Tag: French

• What’s up with that “-er” in “ouster”?

  The big news of the day is that Donald Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson—and all the headlines are describing his ouster or running some language of him being ousted. Where do this journalistic go-to term for “dismissal” come from?

  John Kelly

  March 13, 2018

  Feature

• Why do we say “second” and not “twoth”?

  Thanks in large part to the impassioned activism of the #NeverAgain movement, the news hasn’t moved on from the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, as it has too often in recent massacres in the US. The pressure is staying on gun control, keeping the Second Amendment to the US Constitution in the hot seat. The…

  John Kelly

  February 28, 2018

  Feature

• The etymological “plea” of “please”

  One of the most moving responses to Parkland, Florida, site of just latest mass school shooting in the US, has been a single word: please. David Hogg, 17-year-old survivor of the massacre at his high school, has emerged as a forceful voice of a burgeoning youth movement for gun reform. Speaking to CNN, Hogg exhorted:…

  John Kelly

  February 20, 2018

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• Etymology, with an “eagle” eye

  Maybe in some parallel universe it wasn’t the Philadelphia Eagles who won Super Bowl LII. No, not the New England Patriots but the Philadelphia Ernes. For erne was the usual word for “eagle” in Old English, and in my hypothetical Twilight Zone, French and Latin didn’t sack Anglo-Saxon like so many blitzing linebackers.

  John Kelly

  February 6, 2018

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• Yes, the “dress” in “address” is what you think it is.

  President Trump delivers his first State of the Union address tonight. Let’s briefly address the etymology of this term for a “formal speech.”

  John Kelly

  January 31, 2018

  Feature