Wordorigins.org

snub The thrice-weekly newsletter of Wordorigins.org. Since 1997, we have been providing rigorously researched, yet readable information on the history of the English language.

What would Oscar season be without a few snubs?

wordorigins-org.ghost.io/snub/

tawdry — Wordorigins.org 11 March 2026 Something that is  tawdry  is cheap and gaudy. The word comes from the story of Saint Æþelðryþ (Æthelthryth), also known as Audrey, the daughter of Anna, a seventh-century kin...

tawdry

#etymology #wordorigins #language

notorious — Wordorigins.org 9 March 2026 Usage manuals like to point out that  notorious  refers to someone or something of unfavorable reputation and that the word should not be used to mean merely famous or notable....

notorious

#etymology #language #wordorigins

Your Daily Stella: making a new friend at the park

This YouTube channel has the best titles and promo images of any channel on the planet youtube.com/@docudubery?...

hurricane — Wordorigins.org 6 March 2026 Hurricane comes to us from the Taino language of the Caribbean via Spanish. The Taino word is  hurákan . It makes its first English language appearance in Richard Eden’s 1555 tran...

hurricane

#etymology #wordorigins #language #weather

Your Daily Stella: bedtime

During summers in college, I worked as a barker at a game of chance on the Seaside Heights, NJ boardwalk

Major yn Englisshe:

• Focused readinge & writinge prepare you for anythinge
• Research, communicacioun, creativitye, and interpretacioun will be needed for careers not even inventid yet
• Meaningful engagement wyth big ideas and textes that will staye wyth you forevir
• It ys awesome
• Bookes!

regime change The thrice-weekly newsletter of Wordorigins.org. Since 1997, we have been providing rigorously researched, yet readable information on the history of the English language.

Words in the News: regime change

wordorigins-org.ghost.io/regime-change/

The Strange Rules of America's Most Confusing Accent YouTube video by Evan Edinger

An excellent video on the South Jersey (i.e., my) accent

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec0-...

laneway / laneway house — Wordorigins.org 4 March 2026 Literally, laneway ( lane + way ) is a redundant term, and one that is unfamiliar to most Americans. It is found in Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K...

laneway / laneway house

#etymology #wordorigins #language

Your Daily Stella: that frisbee has somehow managed to survive the dog park for weeks

Turtle Island — Wordorigins.org 2 March 2026 Turtle Island is a calque of a Native American term from the creation accounts of tribes speaking languages of the Iroquoian and Algonquian families. It originally was a name for the w...

Turtle Island

#etymology #wordorigins #language

arch — Wordorigins.org 27 February 2026 Arch , in English, encompasses three broad senses. It can be a combining form signifying chief or high as in archangel or archbishop , it can mean clever or cleverly humorous, an...

arch

#etymology #language #wordorigins

I don't recall ever using or hearing "wet run," but "dry fire" (training without live ammunition) and "going wet" (shooting live ammunition) were common terms during my days in the artillery in the 1980s

dirigible — Wordorigins.org 25 February 2026 Today, the word  dirigible  is almost always used as a noun, referring to a zeppelin -type airship , and I always had it in my head that the word was related to rigid , ...

dirigible

#etymology #wordorigins #language #aviation

sapphire — Wordorigins.org 23 February 2026 Sapphire is a gem, usually blue in color, a variety of corundum. The word came into English from the Anglo-Norman saphir , which is from the Latin sapphirus , which, in turn, is ...

sapphire

#etymology #wordorigins #language

The world is full of horrors but also this

Your Daily Stella: Watching "The Blob" starring Steve McQueen

Post an image you can hear

airship — Wordorigins.org 20 February 2026 As we use the word today, airship generally refers to a dirigible , but that specific usage became common only after 1900 and the launch of Ferdinand Zeppelin’s aircraft. The ...

airship

#etymology #wordorigins #language #aviation

I think the association with the Grateful Dead had a lot to do with it's catching on. There are lots of such in-group slang terms that go nowhere because they don't have a famous band with a legion of fans to take up the usage.

four-twenty / 420 — Wordorigins.org 18 February 2026 There are many origin stories for  420 , a slang term referring to marijuana, but unlike most slang terms, researchers have been able to pin down its actual origin with specific...

four-twenty / 420

#etymology #wordorigins #language

ring / ringleader — Wordorigins.org 16 February 2026 Ring comes down to us from the Old English hring with much the same meaning as today, a circlet, often made of metal, to be worn as an ornament, or more generally, any similar ci...

ring / ringleader

#etymology #wordorigins #language

No, I am saying that I can subordinate my own desires to the common good. It's not about just one candidate; it's about voting whether or not to keep a fascist party in charge.

Theoretically there are situations where I would vote third party in a general, but I can't think of an actual case that applies today. As odious as Newsom is, he's preferable to any Republican, which is to say the fascists. Instead, work to defeat Newsom in the primary.

And I disagree with your premise. It's not voting against your conscience. It's, given two bad choices, voting for the person who most closely aligns with your conscience.

A general election is not an opinion poll. It, in a system with first-past-the post single-member districts, is a binary choice for who is going to govern. You choose the one who is closest to your beliefs. African-Americans have, for decades, been voting for the least racist white person.

Which doesn't mean that you shouldn't harrass the milquetoast Dems until they support trans-rights