Month: November 2014

• Everyday Quechua: Coke, jerky, & DNA

  The Mashed Radish will be off for the next week or so, as my wife and I will be in South America. One of the best parts of travel, of course, is encountering a culture so far from your own. But for the obsessive etymologist in me, travel is all about encountering words that turn out to…

  John Kelly

  November 21, 2014

  Uncategorized

• vape

  As pumpkin spice yields to gingerbread, Christmas is approaching, which means lists: wish lists, holiday party guest lists, Santa’s list of the naughty and nice, and best-of and year-end lists, trailed, of course, by their runners-up on shortlists. To that effect, Oxford Dictionaries has already unveiled its winner for my favorite year-end tradition, the Word of the Year.…

  John Kelly

  November 18, 2014

  Uncategorized

• drubbing & shellacking

  It’s an American pastime: The party of the president takes a big hit in the midterm elections and the electorate awaits how the president will describe it the next day. Most colorfully, in 2010 Obama described Democratic losses as a “shellacking,” while in 2006, Bush described his party’s as a “thumpin’.” And unlike Christmas, the word…

  John Kelly

  November 14, 2014

  Uncategorized

• spices: guest post at Oxford Dictionaries

  Today, for my 100th post, I am honored to share a guest post I did for the OxfordWords blog on the website for Oxford Dictionaries,  run, of course, by Oxford University Press (OUP). Focusing on the origin of spice names, my piece is titled “Salaries, dragons, and musk: rooting around in the spice rack.” You might…

  John Kelly

  November 13, 2014

  Uncategorized

• veteran

  Though the 2014 midterm results may be casting a week-long shadow, Veterans Day is a time when the left and right come together to honor the men and women who have served in the US military. Perhaps the word veteran calls up an elder who fought in World War II. Or maybe it marshals up images of…

  John Kelly

  November 11, 2014

  Uncategorized