The Etyman™ Language Blog

plagiarism /’pleɪd͡ʒəˌrɪzəm/The Word Guyplagiarism

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:19:05 +0000

Those of us who write and  are not digital natives will remember a most excellent piece of technology called a typewriter. Anyone under 30 may well never have used one, nor even seen one, bizarre as that may seem to we “oldies.” The typewriter was a predecessor to the word processor and was a mechanical [...](image)

Media Files:
http://etyman.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/plagiarism.jpg

nudiustertian /nʊdiəs’tɜʃɪən/The Word Guynudiustertian

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:18:47 +0000

One of the most fascinating and entertaining features of the English language is that it is in a constant state of change. As new things are created or discovered, someone, somewhere, comes up with a word to refer to it. For example, a side effect of male obesity is the growth of large, fleshy breasts [...](image)

Media Files:
http://etyman.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/nudiustertian.png?w=300

logorrhea /ˌlɒgə’riːə/The Word Guylogorrhea wordleDiarrhea notice

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:15:25 +0000

What’s the point of having a love of words and then avoid using them just because other people might not understand? I’m all for clarity in communication, and adapting your mode of discourse to accommodate the presumed needs of your audience is simply being polite. But in general, if we were all to decide only [...](image)

Media Files:
http://etyman.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/diarrhea-notice.jpg?w=300

psychopomp /’saɪkəʊˌpɒmp/The Word GuyBocklin Isle 1880Valkyrie Edward Robert Hughesraven

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 06:18:12 +0000

One of my favorite paintings – and I have many – is called The Isle of the Dead by the Swiss artist Arnold Böcklin (1827-1901). It was also a favorite of Sigmund Freud, Vladimir Illyich Lenin, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Böcklin himself, who painted five versions of it between 1880 and 1886. Perhaps “favorite” is not [...](image)

Media Files:
http://etyman.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/raven.jpg?w=192

hunky dory /’hʌŋkɪˌdɔəɹɪ/The Word Guyhunky dory BowieHoncho-dorihunky-dory Nemohunky-dory Boat

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:41:13 +0000

In 1971, David Bowie released his 4th album, Hunky Dory. For me, one of the highlights is the timeless Life On Mars, which features the haunting piano work of Rick Wakeman, who became the keyboard player for the canonical progressive rock band, Yes in the same year. The word hunky dory originated in the United [...](image)

Media Files:
http://etyman.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/hunky-dory-boat.jpg?w=150

pogonotomy /ˌpəʊgəʊˈnɒtəmɪ/The Word Guyamish-attackpogonotomy A

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 03:02:55 +0000

It’s not often that local news goes national but the bizarre case of an Amish gang performing an illegal shaving of a bishop certainly had the element needed to catch the eyes of the national media. If one of the Amish had been a woman and naked, the impact could have been global! [1] Apparently, [...](image)

Media Files:
http://etyman.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/pogonotomy-a.jpg

boustrophedon /ˌbustrəʊ’fidən/The Word Guyboustrophedon ploughboustrophedon linear bboustrophedon englishboustrophedon dexter

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 22:03:48 +0000

We’re having something of an Indian Summer in Ohio, which doesn’t mean our Cleveland baseball team has made it through to the World Series but that although it is October, the temperature is warm enough to allow me to ride my motorcycle and wear T-shirts. It also means that the grass in my back yard [...](image)

Media Files:
http://etyman.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/boustrophedon-dexter.jpg?w=194

9/11 /,naɪnɪ’lɛvən /The Word Guynewyork911

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 14:30:02 +0000

Typically when we think about words, we imagine them as strings of letters. However, there are rare examples of words that are strings of numbers with arguably the most famous and emotionally powerful one being 9/11. So given that using a number as a word is rare, why did 9/11 become the noun of choice [...](image)

Media Files:
http://etyman.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/newyork911.jpg?w=300

chthonic /’kθɒnɪk/ (UK) or /’θɒnɪk/ (US)The Word GuyclarkashtonsmithspacetimeCthulhuerysichthon_feasting

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 19:24:47 +0000

Many years ago in my early teens, I was an avid reader of science fiction and devoured the epics of Isaac Asimov (The Foundation Trilogy), E.E. “Doc” Smith (The Skylark and Lensman series), Frank Herbert (Dune), and many others. The book publishers, Panther (a then-division of Granada Publishing Ltd.) were partly to blame because of [...](image)

Media Files:
http://etyman.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/erysichthon_feasting.jpg?w=150

salmagundi /ˌsælmʌ’gəndɪ/The Word GuyScribble-Scribble-ScribblesalmagundiSolomon-Grundysolomon_gundy

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:25:26 +0000

On a recent trip to the UK, I picked up a copy of Simon Schama’s collection of essays entitled Scribble, Scribble, Scribble. This is a reference to a quote attributed to Prince William Henry, the Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh who, when he received another volume of Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman [...](image)

Media Files:
http://etyman.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/solomon_gundy.jpg?w=150

Comments (0) - Read and Add your own Comments