Mashed Radish

Mashed Radish

Etymology at the intersection of news, life, and everyday language.

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  • Reams of “ream”

    Sexual assault scandals, mass shootings, military coups, tax cuts for the rich, trophy elephants, the impending devastation of climate change, the looming threat of nuclear war—there are reams and reams of heavy news right now. So, I think we could use something that brings us all together. Sorry, I don’t have any puppy videos, but… Read more.

    John Kelly
    November 17, 2017
    Feature

  • Talk, talked. Sing…sang?

    What are all those letters we don’t say doing in the word knight? Why is talked the past tense of talk but sang is the past tense of sing? What’s up with m in whom and how come we eat beef but raise cow? Read more.

    John Kelly
    November 14, 2017
    media

  • Persian pleasure gardens, the Christian afterlife, and tropical tax havens: the origins of “paradise”

    The 13.4 million-file leak called the Paradise Papers are exposing the offshore, tax-avoiding dealings by some of the world’s richest companies and people, from Facebook to the Queen of England. Boosted by alliteration and allusion to last year’s Panama Papers, the BBC explains the paradise name:  The Paradise Papers name was chosen because of the… Read more.

    John Kelly
    November 10, 2017
    Feature

  • The cutthroat origin of “massacre”

    Another day, another mass shooting in the US. The latest massacre—by the latest man wielding an assault weapon—claimed the lives of 26 worshippers at a church in a small town in Texas. Today, as we try to make sense of another needless tragedy, let’s make sense of the etymology of this grisly word, massacre. Read more.

    John Kelly
    November 7, 2017
    Feature

  • Taking “taxes” to the etymological task (repost)

    With House Republicans unveiling sweeping tax cuts in a bill this week, I figured it was a good time to repost this piece on the etymology of tax from 2014. Over three years later, I still find it incredible that tax comes from the same Latin root that gives us task, taste, and taxi. Read more.

    John Kelly
    November 3, 2017
    Feature, Repost

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Mashed Radish

Mashed Radish

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