Tag: English

• The origin of “hundred” doesn’t exactly equal “100”

  Donald Trump is coming up on his first one hundred days in office, a conventional measure of the initial success of a new president going back to FDR. But with a thwarted agenda, palace intrigue, and some self-inflicted wounds, Trump is pushing back against the meaningfulness of this traditional 100-day benchmark. What’s a hundred days,…

  John Kelly

  April 25, 2017

  Feature

• Etymology of the Day: Stroll

  Stroll Stroll has referred to “leisurely walking” since at least 1680, but in the beginning of the 1600s, the word wasn’t quite so innocent and carefree.

  John Kelly

  April 24, 2017

  Etymology of the Day

• Etymology of the day: the hazy origins of “hazy”

  Are you feeling a little hazy after 4/20? Maybe from some purple haze? No, no, I’m sure you were just listening to the Jimi Hendrix song. Well, you’re not alone, as the etymology of hazy is itself quite hazy.

  John Kelly

  April 21, 2017

  Etymology of the Day

• The “arm” bone’s connected to the…”armada” bone?

  Remember that “armada” of warships Trump said was being sent towards the Korean peninsula as a warning to North Korea? It turns out it was actually headed in the opposite direction. Oops. Outside of history class and the rhetoric of war, we don’t hear the word armada too often, but the word is related to…

  John Kelly

  April 19, 2017

  Feature

• The root of “jungle”: It’s a desert out there?

  Today in Georgia’s 6th congressional district, a closely watched “jungle primary” is taking place to fill the seat left by Republican Tom Price, who is now the Secretary of Health and Human Services. In a jungle primary, a more colorful name for a blanket primary, all candidates seeking an office run against each other at…

  John Kelly

  April 18, 2017

  Feature