Category: Uncategorized
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Where does the word “horse” come from?
A horse is a horse, of course, of course. Unless you’re American Pharoah, who coursed the Belmont Stakes last Saturday for the first Triple Crown in 37 years. This three-year-old colt clearly isn’t just any old horse. But etymologically, a horse is a course. Well, not of course, but maybe. The etymology of horse Horses may race young, but the…
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rampant
Comparisons are apt. Majorities are vast. Experiences are harrowing. Situations are hairy. Competition is stiff. Coffee is strong. Linguists describe this habitual juxtaposition or co-occurence of words as “collocation.” In her indictment of FIFA officials last week, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch used one example in describing the organization’s corruption as “rampant.” Why do we describe corruption as “rampant”? I searched…
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scherenschnitte & nunatak
For the second year in a row, co-champions won the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee: Vanya Shivashankar landed scherenschnitte and Gokul Venkatachalam stuck nunatak. If etymology was ever useful, it’s certainly in spelling bees. Let’s have a quick look at origin of the winning words. Scherenschnitte For this word, I turned to Merriam-Webster (whose own Peter Sokolowski offered superb live-tweeting of the…
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tassel
Last post, we studied the origin of finale, an appropriate word for this time of year. Come summer, many students finish their final finals. They don their caps. They don their gowns. They endure long addresses. They walk the stage. They receive their diploma (holder). They graduate. In some traditions, students toss the tassels on their mortarboards from the right…
Mashed Radish 