What They Didn’t Say
We excerpt from What They Didn’t Say: A Book of Misquotations.
Actually, Like Cures Like (?)
Anatoly Liberman looks at filler words, like and you know.
Monthly Gleanings: November, 2006
Anatoly Liberman answers some questions readers have submitted.
Etymological folklore
or: a few subdued thoughts on hullabaloo
Superstitions, unlike knowledge, spread quickly. Students’ spelling breaks every instructor’s heart, and we ask ourselves the question: How did so many people from all over the country, come to the unanimous conclusion that occurrence should be spelled occurance? It is, I believe, a huge conspiracy.
James A. H. Murray At First Hand
Anatoly Liberman’s weekly column.
Carbon Neutral: Oxford Word of the Year
The Oxford word of the year is…
The Sole of the Nation.
Or, The Oddest English Spellings (Part 5)
Oddest English Spellings, Part 5.
Slang and Slang
Anatoly weights in on Slang.
Monthly Gleaning: October 2007
Monthly Gleanings.
The Origins of Fascism: Islamic Fascism, Islamophobia, Antisemitism
Walter Laqueur looks at Islamic Fascism, Islamophobia and Antisemitism
Totally Weird and Wonderful Words
Weird Words!
The Runners-Up: WOTY
More WOTYs.
Bovvered: Word of the Year
Word of the Year.
Many Happy Returns of the Day
Or, Study Etymology and Live Long
Anatoly Liberman ponders longevity.
Undetermined Scholars Confront Indeterminate Numbers
The Oxford Eytmologist takes on more words.
Stacking the Deck for Dictionaries
Erin McKean reports on weird words.