Mashed Radish

Mashed Radish

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

  • About
  • Browse
  • Contact


  • exam

    It’s finals week at many colleges across the U.S., which means our bug-eyed and heavy-lidded crammers are most certainly weighing topical, etymological matters as they prepare for their final exams. It turns out, though, that the word exam is all about weight–and even bugs. Exam Exam is short for examination, of course. It comes from a Latin Read more.

    John Kelly
    December 9, 2014
    Uncategorized

  • ciao, slave!

    After a blogging break, I figured there’d be no better way to say “hello” than to say “goodbye.” Linguistically, the phenomenon is not uncommon, actually. Hawaiian has aloha and Hebrew has shalom, for instance. And Italian of course, has ciao, which has been widely taken up across different tongues as an informal and familiar greeting for “hi” and “bye.” This Read more.

    John Kelly
    December 5, 2014
    Uncategorized

  • Everyday Quechua: Coke, jerky, & DNA

    The Mashed Radish will be off for the next week or so, as my wife and I will be in South America. One of the best parts of travel, of course, is encountering a culture so far from your own. But for the obsessive etymologist in me, travel is all about encountering words that turn out to Read more.

    John Kelly
    November 21, 2014
    Uncategorized

  • vape

    As pumpkin spice yields to gingerbread, Christmas is approaching, which means lists: wish lists, holiday party guest lists, Santa’s list of the naughty and nice, and best-of and year-end lists, trailed, of course, by their runners-up on shortlists. To that effect, Oxford Dictionaries has already unveiled its winner for my favorite year-end tradition, the Word of the Year. Read more.

    John Kelly
    November 18, 2014
    Uncategorized

  • drubbing & shellacking

    It’s an American pastime: The party of the president takes a big hit in the midterm elections and the electorate awaits how the president will describe it the next day. Most colorfully, in 2010 Obama described Democratic losses as a “shellacking,” while in 2006, Bush described his party’s as a “thumpin’.” And unlike Christmas, the word Read more.

    John Kelly
    November 14, 2014
    Uncategorized

←Previous Page
1 … 91 92 93 94 95 … 113
Next Page→
Mashed Radish

Mashed Radish

About

Browse

Contact

© John Kelly 2024

  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Mashed Radish
    • Join 11,086 other subscribers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Mashed Radish
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar