Oxford University Press's
Academic Insights for the Thinking World
A word, some scholars say, can have several etymologies. This is a misleading formulation. Various factors contribute to a word’s meaning and form. All of them should be taken into account and become part of the piece of information we call etymology, because words are like human beings.
In the course of this month, two journalists have approached me with questions related to political scandals. My answers, neither of which has been printed in full, may perhaps interest the readers of our blog. They regarded the typicality of phrases such as Ponzi schemes, and using names as verbs.
Anatoly’s post has seasonal cheer.
Anatoly Liberman looks at the origins of the word “gibberish”.
Anatoly looks at the possible origins of the word “conundrum”.
Anatoly looks at the word “haberdasher”.
Anatoly looks at the word “Buckeye”.
Anatoly explores why some words naturally go together.
Anatoly seeks the origin of “snob”.
Anatoly wonders why we double up on names in certain words.
It is not fortuitous that many words like ‘puzzle’, ‘conundrum’, and ‘quiz’ are themselves puzzles from an etymological point of view. They arose as slang, sometimes as student slang, and as we don’t know the circumstances in which they were coined, our chances of discovering their origin is low.
Two opposite forces act on the brain of someone who sets out to trace the origin of a word. To cite the most famous cases, coward is supposedly a “corruption” of cowherd and sirloin came into being when an English king dubbed an edible loin at table (Sir Loin). Such fantasies have tremendous appeal.
Anatoly responds to comments on spelling reform.
Anatoly uncovers how sneaked became snuck.
Anatoly answers this month’s questions and explains the intriguing history of the words element and hocus pocus.
Anatoly delves into word history for our entertainment.