Category: Uncategorized
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OxfordWords guest post: culprit
Be sure to visit the OxfordWords blog, where I’ve guest-authored another post. This time, it’s on origin of culprit: Amnesia, disguises, and mistaken identities? No, these are not the plot twists of a blockbuster thriller or bestselling page-turner. They are the story of the word culprit. At first glance, the origin of culprit looks simple enough. Mea culpa, culpable, exculpate, and the more obscure inculpate: these words come from…
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measles
The recent outbreak of measles in the United States is incredible for a lot of reasons, especially since the country declared the disease officially eliminated here in 2000. But the word measles–and the disease, to be sure–has been around for a long time. Measles The first ‘case’ of measles in the English language was documented as early as…
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davy crockett in a hot-air balloon
This past week, a few words “blew up” in New England: blizzard, concerning the storm that pounded some parts of the region while only glancing at others, and deflate, due to the allegedly deflated footballs used by the Patriots in their win over the Colts en route to the Super Bowl. Let’s see what their etymologies have to say. Blizzard Weather…
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loophole
As part of his State of the Union Address last Tuesday, President Obama pitched middle-class tax breaks offset, in part, by closing certain tax loopholes that can benefit America’s wealthiest. I’m not fit to weigh in on tax policy (though you may want to learn the curious origin of the word tax), but I do want to…
Mashed Radish 