http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Cross_System A phrase of the moment! Though I can’t say for certain that this is the origin of the phrase “double cross”, I hope it is – it makes for a cool story: The Double Cross System or XX System, was a World War II anti-espionage and deception operation of the British military intelligence arm, […]
Tag Archives: word-ofthe-moment
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http://www.languagemonitor.com/ Word nerds would do best to take a deep breath before plugging through this site; Its devotion to language is as strong as its aversion to grammar and punctuation.
Inane | Define Inane at Dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Inane Inane, adj. 1.lacking sense, significance, or ideas; silly: inane questions. 2.empty; void. [Latin inanis, empty]
Picayune – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picayune Mention of the New Orleans Times Picayune newspaper made me wonder exactly what a picayune was. Wikipedia provides the answer: A picayune was a Spanish coin, worth half a real. Its name derives from the French picaillon, which is itself from the Proven
Sidetrack | Define Sidetrack at Dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=sidetrack&x=37&y=8 Here’s a Word of the Moment that’s commonly used, but whose origins I had never before considered: Sidetrack , v. 1. to move from the main track to a siding, as a train. 2. to move or distract from the main subject or course. [Origin: 1825-35, Americanism]
Collective Nouns for Birds
http://www.palomaraudubon.org/collective.html Is there anything more enjoyable than uncovering a new squee of collective nouns?
Devils advocate – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_advocate Less Word than Phrase of the Moment, this is pretty fascinating. The origin of “Devil’s Advocate”, it seems, is more literal than I would have guessed: Formerly, during the canonization process of the Roman Catholic Church, the Promoter of the Faith (Latin Promotor Fidei), or Devil’s Advocate (Latin advocatus diaboli), was a canon lawyer […]
Turkey (bird) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_%28bird%29 A pretty fascinating look at an etymological game of broken telephone: When Europeans first encountered these species in the Americas, they incorrectly identified them with the African Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris), also known as the turkey-cock from its importation to Europe through Turkey, and the name of that country stuck as also the name […]
Thagomizer – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thagomizer My sister is obsessed with Gary Larson’s late, lamented (by her, especially) Far Side cartoon. Apparently she’s not the only one with the obsession – did you know that a Far Side punchline has become palaeontological canon? Whatever was the original word for the spiked tail of Stegosaurus, if it indeed ever had one, […]
Donkey – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey More fun farming facts, this time linguistic rather than biological in nature: The word donkey (and its equivalent, ass) is one of the most etymologically obscure in the English language. Until quite recent times, the standard word was ass, which has clear cognates in most other Indo-European languages. No credible cognate for donkey has […]