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Academic Insights for the Thinking World
Scottish poetry produced in the long eighteenth century might strike you as at once familiar and unknown. Hundreds of poets, balladists, and songwriters born or raised in Scotland throughout the long eighteenth century need to find new readerships.
The Oxford Etymologist explores the unfinished story of the word “begin”.
When Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Uncle Silas” appeared in 1864, its author was best known as the proprietor of the Dublin University Magazine and a writer of Irish historical novels. Yet, as advised by his publisher, Le Fanu had produced a work of fiction situated not in the Irish past but the English present.
English noun phrases have something called a “temporal interpretation.” That’s linguist-speak for how we understand their place in time relative to the tense of the verb.
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.
Reading literature has us think differently, with a subtler emotional lexicon. Explore three case studies into reading for identity, expression, and mental health from the Centre for Research into Reading, Literature, and Society (CRILS).
The Oxford Etymologist the common but etymologically opaque verb “mope”, and other monosyllabic verbs.
Are you searching for inspiration to help further your goals this new year? Reading books offers an easy yet effective way to help navigate life, so who better to turn to than authors of some well-loved Oxford World’s Classics!
The Oxford Etymologist explores a selection of idioms, including the amazing story of the phrase “fox’s wedding.”
Reading Dan Chaon’s novel Sleepwalk last summer, I noticed his use of the verb itch to mean scratch.
There are dozens of social media platforms, each with a distinct personality and purpose, so it can be difficult to know which social media platforms are the most useful for academics to engage with. That’s why we’ve put together this how-to guide to help you decide which social media platforms are the best fit for […]
The history of “dude” has been documented with amazing accuracy.
The history of “dude” has been documented with amazing accuracy.
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.
When I received the letter granting me emeritus status, I naturally got curious about the etymology.