The kings of etymological rings
It is amazing how many words Indo-European languages have for “supreme ruler; potentate.” In English, the main one is king.
How can they do it when we can’t?
Salamanders can regenerate lost limbs, but mammals cannot. Recent discoveries about cell potency and positional information are helping scientists understand why, while opening new possibilities for regenerative medicine.
Binomial expressions
Why do we say chicken and egg but never egg and chicken? English has hundreds of these fixed binomial expressions, each following subtle linguistic rules. From Yakov Malkiel’s early studies to the forensic clue that helped catch the Unabomber, binomials reveal how deeply word order shapes meaning.
Brothers and sisters
The readers of this blog may have noticed that I usually try to stay away from the oldest words in English, those with ancient Indo-European roots.
Pen to Paper with Alexander Mikaberidze
Historian Alexander Mikaberidze reframes the Louisiana Purchase as part of a global story of empire, revolution, and political ambition. He discusses archival discoveries, Napoleonic history, and why the Purchase still matters today.
A few etymological pebbles
The readers of this blog must have noticed how often I suggest solutions connected with sound imitation. Time and again I say that a certain noun or verb owes its origin to onomatopoeia.
The level of our expertise: the perplexing verb baffle
What does it mean when a dictionary says: “Origin unknown”? We will soon see that the concept of “unknown” has several levels.
Clinical Legal Education, Theory and Practice
Legal education, at least in the Anglosphere, has been undergoing a quiet but very recognisable transformation. The case study method, developed by Christopher Columbus Langdell at Harvard in the 1870s, is steadily giving way to ‘authentic’, ‘real life’ or ‘experiential’ learning, wherein theory and practice are intermeshed.
Seeing red
The history of color names presents countless problems, and the literature on the subject is enormous. Today’s post is only about some curious uses of the word red in English.
Learn about telic and atelic predicates
Recently, I went to a talk on telicity in verbs. If the term is unfamiliar to you, you are not alone.
Aftermath and its kin
My story today is about several words referring to aftermath. All of them have a rather confusing sound shape.
Over 500 open access books: shaped by experience, strengthened by learning
When a collection passes 500 titles, it’s tempting to focus on the milestone. But what’s more interesting is the story behind the number, the years of collaboration between authors, editors, institutions, funders, and readers who share a commitment to making scholarship easier to discover, read, teach, and build upon.
In and out of the box
Today’s story is about boxing (that is, about the word box).
Spelling bee is back. So am I
Spelling Bee is back.
Restive people never rest
Some parts of the story I am going to tell can be found in most dictionaries, but it is the attempts to connect a few distant dots that may be interesting to those who wonder “where words come from.”
Is there an L in both?
My grandmother was one of those speakers who had an “r” in the word wash, pronouncing it “warsh”. For her, the nation’s capital was “Warshington”, D.C., and the vegetable was a “squarsh.”