Mashed Radish

Digging up “dirt”

Donald Trump Jr. stepped in some, er, dirt this week when the New York Times revealed he knowingly met with a Russian lawyer who promised dirt on Hillary Clinton as part of the Kremlin’s effort to help Trump. Where does the word dirt come from, and when did it start referring to “compromising information”? As… Read more.

John Kelly

July 11, 2017

Feature
Review: Sports Talk by Colin McNairn

You don’t really have a choice over whether or not you like sports if you speak English. All bets are off, bad break, curveball, down to the wire, get the ball rolling, grandstanding, level playing field, take the bait, track record—expressions taken from sports are everywhere and everyday in English, so much so that we… Read more.

John Kelly

July 8, 2017

Review
Going “ballistic”

The same Greek root of ballistic gives us such words as ballet, devil, parliament, and symbol. On July 4th, North Korea successfully tested its first ICBM, or intercontinental ballistic missile. As intercontinental leaders figure how what to do next, let’s go ballistic—etymologically, that is. Read more.

John Kelly

July 7, 2017

Feature
Mammoth cheese, one nation, and shagging: Thomas Jefferson in the OED

To count to ten when angry, doll-baby, Irish-American, leaf lettuce, Megalonyx, N.Y., Riesling, sanction? The man who gave us “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” has also left us an incredible record of words in the English language. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by… Read more.

John Kelly

July 4, 2017

Feature
Your Friday etymological news roundup

Today, rather than zoom in on the origin of any one noteworthy word, let’s round up the etymologies of some of the top words buzzing in this week’s news: Read more.

John Kelly

June 30, 2017

Feature

Digging up “dirt”

Review: Sports Talk by Colin McNairn

Going “ballistic”

Mammoth cheese, one nation, and shagging: Thomas Jefferson in the OED

Your Friday etymological news roundup