Challenge Oxford!
Test your wordpower against Oxford’s experts.
Keeping Notes
Ammon reflects on note-taking.
Mildew – Podictionary Word of the Day
The podictionary word of the day is “mildew”.
Advice to the Etymologist: Never Lose Heart, or, The Origin of the Word Galoot
Several times a year I speak on Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), a guest of Kerri Miller’s program “Midmorning News.” We usually advertise some general topic in advance, but, while I am in the studio, listeners are requested to ask any questions they like about word origins, regardless of the overarching theme. Sometimes I […]
The Merriams and the Madman
Ammon Shea looks at Merriam’s madman.
W – Podictionary Word of the Day
It seems strange that in English we call W ‘double-U’ while in French its ‘double-V’. It’s usually written to resemble two Vs, rather than two Us. At Urbandictionary, the entry for W contains plenty of slurs against George Bush, and those who decided to have 3-Ws as the start of a web address.
American Nicknames Part 1: Softies and Buckeye
Anatoly looks at the word “Buckeye”.
Ammon’s Favorite Words, This Week
Several months ago, John McGrath of Wordie interviewed me for this blog. He asked me about my favorite words that I had come across in reading the OED and I gave him a list of what they were at the time. But words can be capricious things, and the ones of which I am fondest are constantly changing.
Magnet – Podictionary Word of the Day
The OED refers to two men; Pliny and Nicander—in its etymology for the word magnet. Pliny was a Roman who lived in the 1st century and wrote the ‘Natural History’. Nicander was a Greek, who lived 300 years earlier. It’s very useful in figuring out how past peoples thought of the world around them.
William John Thoms, The Man Who Invented The Word Folklore
Anatoly celebrates a word pioneer.
An Excerpt From Reading The OED
An excerpt from Ammon Shea’s Reading The OED.
Truffle – Podictionary Word of the Day
The podictionary word of the week is “truffle”.
Stealing thunder… OK? The origins of everyday words and phrases
In celebration of the latest edition of The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, we reveal the origins of some everyday words and phrases.
To Bailout, or Not
Ammon Shea ponders the word “bailout”.
Beef – Podictionary Word of the Day
A teenager I know was recently at a weekend party up at a lake. Two of the girls there had an altercation and one pushed the other off the wharf and into the water. This was reported to me in the following terms: “Suzie and Nancy really had beef.” This was a new one on me. Did they share a steak?
Monthly Gleanings
Anatoly answers questions.