Etymology gleanings for two winter months (2022-2023)
In this blog post, the Oxford Etymologist responds to questions from readers on word borrowing across Hebrew, Greek, and Germanic, plus a few new etymology ideas.
A Q&A with Bryan Garner, “the least stuffy grammarian around”
The fifth edition of Garner’s Modern English Usage has recently been published by OUP. I was happy to talk to Bryan Garner—who was declared a “genius” by the late David Foster Wallace—about what it means to write a usage dictionary.
Gr-words as mushrooms
Some words propagate like mushrooms: no roots but a sizable crowd of upstarts calling themselves relatives. Gr-words are the pet subject of all works on sound imitation and sound symbolism.
Monosyllabic moping
The Oxford Etymologist the common but etymologically opaque verb “mope”, and other monosyllabic verbs.
2023 and adventures in the idiom wonderland
The Oxford Etymologist explores a selection of idioms, including the amazing story of the phrase “fox’s wedding.”
Which book matches your New Year’s resolution? [Quiz]
Are you setting goals for 2023? Check out our quiz for book recommendations based on your resolutions for the new year!
Can you itch an itch?
Reading Dan Chaon’s novel Sleepwalk last summer, I noticed his use of the verb itch to mean scratch.
Skin-deep: wrinkle, pimple, and mole
The history of “dude” has been documented with amazing accuracy.
Dude: a long history of a short word
The history of “dude” has been documented with amazing accuracy.
Weird Moby-Dick
There are a lot of peculiar phrases in Moby-Dick. My new introduction to the second Oxford World’s Classics edition of Herman Melville’s novel highlights the startling weirdness of the book, both in its literary form and its language.
Becoming Emeritus
When I received the letter granting me emeritus status, I naturally got curious about the etymology.
Say cheese, or l’esprit d’escalier neglected and forgotten
As everybody knows, the phrase in the title, l’esprit d’escalier, refers to a good thought occurring too late.
Some premature gleanings
I decided not to wait another week, let alone another four weeks, and discuss the notes and queries from my mail. As usual, I express my gratitude to those who have read the posts, added their observations, or corrected my mistakes.
In the footsteps of our greatest favorite: vampire
We love books and movies about vampires, don’t we? Everybody knows who Dracula was, and many people believe that we owe the entire myth to him. This, however, is not true. In this blog post, the Oxford Etymologist deals with the history of the word “vampire.”
Everyday Narnia: the language of another world
There is little doubt that “Narnia” has effectively entered the English language and that references to a “wardrobe” or “wardrobe door” have been given additional meanings by C. S. Lewis: any reference to it requires no explanation simply because everyone knows.
Post-summer gleanings
The Oxford Etymologist answers readers’ questions on the origin of the word “race”, variants of “in one’s stockinged feet”, the folkloric creature Lady Hoonderlarly, and “bonfire.”