Tag: Greek
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10 words with surprising Irish roots
From bother and trousers to slogan and slew, the English language has Irish etymology galore. We’re all Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, as we like to say, but so too are many of our words – and not just the more obvious ones like leprechaun or shamrock. There are many other everyday words whose Irish origins…
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Miscreants, quarry, and records: changes of “heart”
On Valentine’s Day, hearts are everywhere. Candy hearts. Heart emoji. Every imaginable sort of heart-shaped chocolate, greeting card, decorative banner, bric-a-brac. Hearts even swell in our words – and not just the likes sweetheart or, depending on how feel about the holiday, heartsick. I grant you no quarry, you discordant, incredulous, myocardial miscreant! Yes, these…
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Santa’s reindeer: an etymological herd
Around many holiday hearths tonight, families will recite “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” a poem, properly called “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” first published anonymously in 1823 and later claimed by American professor and writer Clement Clarke Moore. Moore’s verse is considered the source of our names for Santa’s reindeer, excluding their later leader, Rudolph:…
Mashed Radish 