A guide to going to hell (first draft) and other matters
The Oxford Etymologist ruminates on the origins and meanings of idioms including “to go to hell in a handbasket.”
The Oxford Etymologist ruminates on the origins and meanings of idioms including “to go to hell in a handbasket.”
The Oxford Etymologist replies to etymology questions from readers.
Today’s post is about the murky origin of the word “limb”.
The Oxford Etymologist has examined the verbs “begin” and “start.” For consistency’s sake, it is now necessary to say something about the noun and the verb “end.”
The Oxford Etymologist has examined the verbs “begin” and “start.” For consistency’s sake, it is now necessary to say something about the noun and the verb “end.”
The Oxford Etymologist explores the origin of the verb “to start”.
The Oxford Etymologist explores the unfinished story of the word “begin”.
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.
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.
The Oxford Etymologist the common but etymologically opaque verb “mope”, and other monosyllabic verbs.
The Oxford Etymologist explores a selection of idioms, including the amazing story of the phrase “fox’s wedding.”
The history of “dude” has been documented with amazing accuracy.
The history of “dude” has been documented with amazing accuracy.
As everybody knows, the phrase in the title, l’esprit d’escalier, refers to a good thought occurring too late.
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.
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.”