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Academic Insights for the Thinking World
Quite naturally, speakers connect words that sound alike. From a strictly scholarly point of view, “sore” and “sorrow” are unrelated, but for centuries, people thought differently, and folk etymology united the two long ago.
English has a big bagful of auxiliary verbs. You may know these as helping verbs as they help the main verb express its meaning.
The Oxford Etymologist looks at the origin of the word “day” and its connections across the Indo-European language world.
A recent opinion piece claims that the overturning of Roe v. Wade has resulted in “a partial healing of the nation’s civic culture.”
The Oxford Etymologist tackles the convoluted history of “bud” and “buddy” – the final part of the series.
The Oxford Etymologist tackles the convoluted history of “bud” and “buddy”.
During the news coverage of the COVID pandemic, I enjoyed seeing Dr Anthony Fauci on television and hearing his old-school Brooklyn accent. My favorite expression to listen for was his use of “down the pike” to mean “in the future.”
Observing how various words for “friend” originate and develop is a rather curious enterprise.
All over the Indo-European map, the main word of negation begins with “n”. What is in this sound that invites denial, refutation, or repulsion?
Read and Publish agreements have become an important mechanism for providing institutions with a simple, flexible, and inclusive way of managing access to subscription and hybrid journals, whilst supporting their faculty to publish with open access licenses. These agreements play an increasingly important role in OUP’s program for advancing high-quality open access publications, and bring many benefits and opportunities for researchers.
The Oxford Etymologist dives into the history and meaning of the word “coward” – and what does cowardice have to do with custard?
Always, let me thank our correspondents for consulting the blog, asking questions, and offering words of encouragement.
Try this short quiz to test your knowledge and learn more about famous twentieth-century texts!
When people think about careers in writing, they may focus on writing novels or films, poetry or non-fiction. But for steady work, there is nothing like technical writing.
The root of riddle “puzzle,” from rædels(e), is Old English rædan “to read.”
The Oxford Etymologist explores the etymological development and history of the word “hooker.”