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What’s up with that “-er” in “ouster”?
The big news of the day is that Donald Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson—and all the headlines are describing his ouster or running some language of him being ousted. Where do this journalistic go-to term for “dismissal” come from? Read more.
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We can “retaliate,” but can we “taliate”?
Yesterday, Trump signed off on his new steel and aluminum tariffs, carving out exemptions for Canada and Mexico. But other trading partners, especially in Europe, are still threatening retaliation, a trade-warring word—and focus of today’s etymology. The legal talons of talio English first exacts retaliation in the 16th century, when it variously referred to a Read more.
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If it weren’t for trade, there’d be no “tariff”
The word “tariff” goes all the way back to Arabic. Read more.
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The etymological “plea” of “please”
One of the most moving responses to Parkland, Florida, site of just latest mass school shooting in the US, has been a single word: please. David Hogg, 17-year-old survivor of the massacre at his high school, has emerged as a forceful voice of a burgeoning youth movement for gun reform. Speaking to CNN, Hogg exhorted: Read more.
Mashed Radish 