Posts Tagged ‘etymology’
Merriam-Webster’s “Trend Watch” reported a spike in lookups of the word “hunker” in the run-up to Hurricane (Superstorm?) Sandy. They give this CNN headline as an example: “From Maine to South Carolina, states hunker down for storm.” Here’s the definition of hunker, from the Online Etymology Dictionary: hunker (v.) “to squat, crouch,” 1720, Scottish, of uncertain […]
Filed under: English, Language | 2 Comments
Tags: English, etymology, Hurricane Sandy, Language, Sandy, Scots language
Who are you calling feisty?!?
Yikes! I was browsing through the Online Etymology Dictionary for -le frequentatives the other day, as you do, and eventually arrived at the etyolomogical definition of feisty (I was looking for “fizzle”, but one’s as bad as the other, frankly). feisty 1896, “aggressive, exuberant, touchy,” Amer.Eng., with -y (2) + feist “small dog,” earlier fice, […]
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Tags: English, etymology, feisty, Language, words
The title of my post on “bamboozled” comes from the wonderful song “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered“, from the Rodgers and Hart musical Pal Joey. This video’s from the film version, which starred Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, and the gorgeous Rita Hayworth. Here she is, performing (but not signing) the song and giving us a lesson […]
Filed under: Life and work and everything else | Leave a Comment
Tags: etymology, film, glamour, Life and work, songs
Ofgem, the UK energy regulator, has carried out a review of energy companies’ pricing practices. The review found that competition is being stifled by a combination of tariff complexity, poor supplier behaviour, and lack of transparency. The Chief Executive said: Consumers have told us that energy suppliers’ prices are too complicated. It is no surprise that […]
Filed under: English, Italian, Translation | 6 Comments
Tags: English, etymology, Italian, Translation, words. clear writing
Carobs are a girl’s best friend
You know you’ve got problems when you’re flicking through a jewellery catalogue and your eye homes in on the etymology tidbits rather than the diamonds. The tidbit in question comes from the Hamilton and Inches catalogue: The word “carat” when applied to gemstones is a unit of weight. It is a distortion of “carob”: the […]
Filed under: Books, English, Language | 2 Comments
Tags: atomic lattice, Books, charity, diamonds, English, etymology, Language, Nobel Prize
Words to good effect 