-
Millennials are killing…the word “millennial”?
Alex Cwalinski brings the production qualities of This American Life and the curiosity of The Smithsonian Magazine to his podcast about travel, Go. For his latest episode, Cwalinksi looked at how millennials are changing the travel industry—including, flatteringly, interviewing me. I spoke to Cwalinski about how the word millennial itself has changed. Head over to Read more.
-
Search: etymology of the day
Via Old French cerchier, search goes back to the Latin circare, literally “to go round.” The verb is formed from circus, source of and meaning circle. m ∫ r ∫ Read more.
-
“Torrential”: a cruelly ironic etymology
There’s only one way to describe the rain deluging Houston, Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey this week: torrential. Nearly thirty inches have already fallen over parts of the city as of Monday night, and 20 more inches are still expected. The frequent co-occurrence of these two words, torrential and rain, is called collocation Read more.
-
Safari: Etymology of the day
Safari was borrowed in the 1850s from the Swahili safari, meaning “journey” or “expedition,” in turn from the Arabic safar, “journey” or “tour.” m ∫ r ∫ Read more.
-
The etymological elements of “arsenic”
Researchers concluded this week that nearly 60 million people in Pakistan are at risk of drinking water with “alarmingly high” levels of arsenic, the contamination leaching into groundwater from rock. The poisonous qualities of arsenic, a semi-metal, and its various compounds have long been known to (and sometimes disregarded by) humans—as has the word. As Read more.
Mashed Radish 