Monthly Gleanings, Part Two: (August 2009)
Anatoly Liberman’s gleanings.
Frolic – Podictionary Word of the Day
The podictionary word of the week is “frolic”.
Monthly Gleanings, Part I: (August 2009)
By Anatoly Liberman Squaw. My post on squaw produced some ripples. Three lawyers from Michigan gave me the lashing of their tongue(s). (I am sorry for the parentheses, but I always feel uncomfortable when I have to say something like: “Three people put their foot in their mouth.” Should it be feet and mouths?) Their […]
Elbow – Podictionary Word of the Day
The podictionary word of the week is “elbow”.
Why Skate but Scathe?
Or, The Oddest English Spellings. Part 14
Anatoly looks at spelling reform, specifically at “sk” and “sc”.
Here comes the rain again…
Damp Squid author Jeremy Butterfield talks to OUP UK Publicity Manager Juliet Evans about different ways to talk about rain.
Send in the Hench-poodles! An Underrated Prefix for Underlings
Mark Peters looks at the various uses of “hench” as a prefix.
Chardonnay – Podictionary Word of the Day
[display_podcast] iTunes users can subscribe to this podcast The heavyweights of the English dictionary world (The Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam Webster for instance) can trace the use of the word Chardonnay back only to 1911 in English when it appeared in the Encyclopedia Britannica. These English dictionaries haven’t made too much progress for this […]
The Deceptive Transparency of Compounds
Anatoly Liberman explains the etymology of compound words, notably, blackguard.
A Derailed Myth, or, a Story of the Word Tram
Anatoly Liberman tours the history of the word tram.
Bus – Podictionary Word of the Day
The podictionary word of the week is “bus”.
Around ethnic slurs part 2: Sheeny
Probably no other ethnic group has been vilified with so much linguistic ingenuity as the Jews. For the moment I will leave out of account Kike and Smouch and say what little I can about Sheeny, a word first recorded in English in 1824 (so the OED).
Mumbo-Jumbo – Podictionary Word of the Day
The podictionary word of the week is “mumbo-jumbo”.
Droll but Harmless: The Word Scallywag
Anatoly Liberman explores various cultural forms and meanings of the term “scalawag.”
Camera – Podictionary Word of the Day
The podictionary word of the week is “camera”.
What Did The Vikings Do Before They Began to Play Football?
Anatoly Liberman explores the history of the word Viking.