The scars of old stars
The Oxford Etymologist is out of hibernation and picks up where he left off in mid-December. It may be profitable to return to the origin of “star”, but from a somewhat broader perspective.
Twinkle, twinkle, or stars and sparks
Nothing is known about the origin of the phrase “Milky Way.” By contrast, the origin of the word “star” is not hopelessly obscure, which is good, because stars and obscurity have little in common.
Down the rabbit hole
If you are a writer, you’ve probably gone down a rabbit hole at one point or another. The idiom owes its meaning to Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, in which Alice literally does that.
The wiles of folk etymology
Words, as linguistics tells us, are conventional signs. Some natural phenomenon is called rain or snow, and, if you don’t know what those words mean, you will never guess. But everything in our consciousness militates against such a rupture between word and thing.
Winter etymology gleanings
Both “thank” and “give” deserve our attention! And it is those two outwardly unexciting words that I’ll offer today as part of our etymological feast.
From Halloween to Thanksgiving
Both “thank” and “give” deserve our attention! And it is those two outwardly unexciting words that I’ll offer today as part of our etymological feast.
The sky’s the limit
English (uncharacteristically) has two, if not even three, words for the sphere above us: sky, heaven, and firmament.
Many words for a small world and a little-known centennial
What do we call the world in which we live? The specifically Germanic noun “world” is perhaps the most puzzling word known in this area.
Wondering about the subjunctive
“He wondered if he were hallucinating.” I came across that use of the subjunctive while listening to the audiobook of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods.
English idioms: etymological devilry in baking and printing
It is curious how often those who have tried to explain the origin of English idioms have referred to the occupation of printers. Regardless of their success, the attempts are worthy of note.
How OUP is innovating for the future of open research
Innovations in open research can help to address disinformation, making a wider range of information accessible and available, ensuring reproducibility, and facilitating reuse.
Spooks are spooks, but don’t ignore organic pumpkins
We are one more week closer to Halloween, and pumpkins are ubiquitous. How did the pumpkin get its name?
“I wouldn’t start from here”: a SHAPE route to open access
Open research may be the route to surfacing a definitional framework for the monograph in SHAPE disciplines. Director of Open Access, Academic, at OUP Andy Redman explores why in this blog post:
How is OUP contributing to the open research landscape today?
As a mission-driven university press, we strongly support the opening up of research and the benefits for access and inclusion that OA brings. We want to ensure that the transition towards open research is an inclusive process—to use the title of OA week, “it matters how we open knowledge.”
Spooky Halloween: the origin of “spook”
How can a ghost (any ghost) get its name, and why is the etymology of bogymen, gremlins, goblins, and spooks usually unknown?
An etymological meltdown: “thaw,” “dew,” and “icicles”
A bit more is known about the origin of the words thaw and dew than about ice and snow. They are less impenetrable than those two, but they also contain riddles.