Oxford University Press's
Academic Insights for the Thinking World
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 […]
Anatoly looks at the word “Buckeye”.
Anatoly celebrates a word pioneer.
Anatoly looks at apostrophes.
Anatoly answers questions.
Anatoly finds the appropriate sustenance for spelling reformers.
Hermaphrodites are born rarely, and it is far from clear why their mythology achieved such prominence in Antiquity. Reference to cross-dressing during certain marriage rites does not go far, but the cult of Hermaphroditus is a fact, and Ovid’s tale of the union in one body of the son of Hermes and Aphrodite is well-known.
Anatoly gives a candid take on etymology.
Questions for the month are answered.
Anatoly explores why some words naturally go together.
Anatoly seeks the origin of “snob”.
Anatoly explores the history of OK.
Anatoly explores the history of spelling with the letter w.
Anatoly wonders why we double up on names in certain words.
By Anatoly Liberman In olden days women were supposed to be sweet, docile, and, if possible, incorporeal. On the other hand, men, subject to the universal law of contrasts, threw their weight about, and, once they “arrived,” demonstrated corpulence. They invented countless offensive words referring to women’s way of walking.
Anatoly examines the origin of the word fiasco.