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spices: guest post at Oxford Dictionaries
Today, for my 100th post, I am honored to share a guest post I did for the OxfordWords blog on the website for Oxford Dictionaries, run, of course, by Oxford University Press (OUP). Focusing on the origin of spice names, my piece is titled “Salaries, dragons, and musk: rooting around in the spice rack.” You might Read more.
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veteran
Though the 2014 midterm results may be casting a week-long shadow, Veterans Day is a time when the left and right come together to honor the men and women who have served in the US military. Perhaps the word veteran calls up an elder who fought in World War II. Or maybe it marshals up images of Read more.
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candy
Today, millions of be-ghouled kids across North America will be facing the disappointment of “fun size” candy as they trick-or-treat for Halloween. While “fun size” may sour any ghost or goblin, candy makes for a quite the sweet and surprising etymology. Candy Following in the tradition of the Romance languages, the earliest appearance of candy is in sugar-candy in 1390. From the French (sucre candi) and, Read more.
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panic
Ebola, Islamic State, European economic wobbles, public shootings, midterm election campaign advertisements–don’t panic, but we’re not out of the woods yet. Nor are we ever with panic, if we consider its etymology. Panic Today, we might think of panic as a kind of fear, but originally it characterized fear: sudden, wild fear was called panic fear. In its earliest uses before Read more.
Mashed Radish 