Etymology
Word origin stories

Steaming a Good Ham

How to write a meme in Shakespearean English, by Talia Felix, Assistant Editor.
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Word origin stories

Does it come from Beefsteak Tomatoes?

Why do some Italian-Americans say "gravy" when they mean "tomato sauce?" By Talia Felix, Assistant Editor.
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Word origin stories

Zillions and Zillions

Interrogate sources. Observe the matrix around the fossil. Be your nose a pointer for your brain. [D.R.H.]
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Word origin stories

Snipsnap

A bus tour through a mountain village [D.R.H.]
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Word origin stories

Chasing the Oldest English Word

"What is the oldest English word? How to define this requires some thought." by Talia Felix, Assistant Editor
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Word origin stories

Mandrake Roots

Notebook dump. As pretty as it sounds. Thoughts that sat for weeks and never grew. Out on the curb, free, as-is, no warranties. [D.R.H.]
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Word origin stories

The PARAGRAPH

Notes about William Jones's matchless footnote insight into the historical secular relationship of Sanskrit to Greek and Latin and why nobody saw it entirely before. [D.R.H.]
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Word origin stories

Snakes of Iceland

The famous literary anecdote of the book chapter anyone can recite from memory [D.R.H.]
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Word origin stories

Superstitious Understanding

Etymology's joke on us is that our very words that mean "grasp an idea of, mentally fit together parts of reality" — are themselves obscure or incomprehensible to us. [D.R.H.]
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