Tag: history
-
“Milliner”: it’s literally from Milan
A fancy word for fancy hats owing to Milanese merchants selling fancy wares. Fancy that!
-
“Literature’s hand luggage”: wit and wisdom in James Geary’s “The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism”
A definitive—and delightful—handbook to the hard-to-define aphorism.
-
The 2025 Etymology of the Year
“Fascism” is a challenging word for a challenging moment, and its origins may bear lessons for us.
-
The bemusing etymological muse of “calliope”
The calliope makes a music perhaps out of tune with its literal roots.
-
Newsy etymology: mercy, oligarchy, palisade, Greenland, emphysema, severance
“Greenland” originated as a sales pitch. “Merchandise” lies behind “mercy.” And little separates “severance” and “separation.”