Receive updates from Useless Etymology for free, starting right now.
We can deliver them by email, via your phone or you can read them from a personalised news page on follow.it.
This way you won't miss any new article from Useless Etymology. Unsubscribe at any time.
Site title: Useless Etymology – offbeat word origins for curious minds
Is this your feed? Claim it!
What’s one of those words that you just can’t stand, that sends a chill up your spine and activates your inner sense of ick?
Many people will immediately think of the word “moist,” which grosses out 10–20% of the English speaking population. The phenomenon of being repulsed by a term is called word aversion or logomisia (Greek logos “word” ...
The following is an excerpt from the book Useless Etymology: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds.
A fossil word is a word that primarily appears in the context of phrases or idioms. It typically comes attached to other words. The phrase survives even when the word itself becomes antiquated and rarely appears on its own.<...
I’m delighted to announce the impending arrival of my third etymology book, Useless Etymology: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds, featuring quirky, charming, and humorous word origin stories for lovers of all things lexical. This lovely little blue book, published by Hachette’s John Murray Press, will be released in hardcover on Oct. 7 in the United Sta...