OUPblog » Language

My word of the year: hostages I have never been able to guess the so-called word of the year, because the criteria are so vague: neither an especially frequent word nor an especially popula...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/05/my-word-of-the-year-hostages/

Dab-dab and a learned idiom I receive questions about the origin of words and idioms with some regularity. If the subjects are trivial, I respond privately, but this week a correspondent as...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/05/dab-dab-and-a-learned-idiom/

In search of the MacGuffin I considered opening this post in the style of Dashiell Hammett: Samuel Spade’s jaw was long and bony, his chin a jutting v under the more flexible v of his mou...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/04/in-search-of-the-macguffin/

Unscheduled gleanings and a few idioms I receive questions about the origin of words and idioms with some regularity. If the subjects are trivial, I respond privately, but this week a corre...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/04/unscheduled-gleanings-and-a-few-idioms/

Walter W. Skeat and the Oxford English Dictionary For many years, I have been trying to talk an old friend of mine into writing a popular book on Skeat. A book about such a colorfu...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/04/walter-w-skeat-and-the-oxford-english-dictionary/

Do American family names make sense? Do names really mean anything, even when they seem to? Individuals in present day America called Smith, Jackson, Washington, or Redhead are not usually ...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/04/do-american-family-names-make-sense/

From “frog” to “toad” I did not intend to write an essay about toad, because a detailed entry on this word can be found in An Analytical Dictionary of English Etymology (2008), but ...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/04/from-frog-to-toad/

An etymological plague of frogs Last week, I discussed a few suggestions about the origin of the English word frog. Unfortunately, I made two mistakes in the Greek name of this animal. My n...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/04/an-etymological-plague-of-frogs/

A jumping frog and other creatures of etymological interest Our readers probably expect this post to deal with Mark Twain’s first famous story. Alas, no. My frog tale is, though mildly en...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/03/a-jumping-frog-and-other-creatures-of-etymological-interest/

Why decolonization and inclusion matter in linguistics As sociolinguists, we have centered social justice in our research, teaching, and administrative work for many years. But as with many...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/03/why-decolonization-and-inclusion-matter-in-linguistics/

A Retrospective on “Origin Uncertain” In early March, the mail brought me the expected complimentary copies of my recent book Origin Uncertain: Unraveling the Mysteries of Etymology, pu...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/03/a-retrospective-on-origin-uncertain/

Chewing the cud and ruminating on word origins The history of cud may be more exciting than it seems at first sight. Initially (long ago!), I was intrigued when I read the statement by Henr...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/03/chewing-the-cud-and-ruminating-on-word-origins/

“Smother,” “smooth,” and the Slavic name of sour cream, with an obscure idiom for dessert The word smother “dense or stifling smoke” (often with smoke!) has existed in English f...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/03/smother-smooth-and-the-slavic-name-of-sour-cream-with-an-obscure-idiom-for-dessert/

Rhetorical “um” “Uh” and “um” don’t get much respect. What even are they? Toastmasters International calls them “crutch words.” OUPblog - Academic insights for the think...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/03/rhetorical-um/

Late winter etymology gleanings and a few little-known idioms Ms. Melissa Mizel found my post for July 29, 2009, on the ethnic slur Sheeny “Jew” and sent me her idea about the etymology...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/02/late-winter-etymology-gleanings-and-a-few-little-known-idioms/

Of language, brain health, and global inequities One of the greatest public health challenges of our century lies in the growth of neurodegenerative disorders. Conditions such as Alzheimer�...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/02/of-language-brain-health-and-global-inequities/

A four-forked etymology: curfew It appears that the etymology of curfew has been solved. In any case, all modern dictionaries say the same. The English word surfaced in texts in the early f...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/02/a-four-forked-etymology-curfew/

“Indian summer” and other curious idioms The Internet is full of information about the origin of the phrase Indian summer. Everything said there about this idiom, its use, the puzzling ...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/02/indian-summer-and-other-curious-idioms/

Intractable words In my correspondence with the journalist who was curious about the origin of caucus, I wrote that we might never discover where that word came from. OUPblog - Academic i...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/02/intractable-words/

How synonymy rolls If you look up the synonym of big, you are likely to find words like large, huge, immense, colossal, enormous, and ginormous, among others. Some of these will cause you t...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/02/how-synonymy-rolls/

The origin of the word caucus: conclusion Last week, I mentioned three etymologies of caucus: from caucus, Latin for “cup”; from an Algonquin phrase, and from calker’s or caulkers’....

https://blog.oup.com/2024/01/the-origin-of-the-word-caucus-conclusion/

The intractable word caucus At the moment, the word caucus is in everybody’s mouth. This too shall pass, but for now, the same question is being asked again and again, namely: “What is ...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/01/the-intractable-word-caucus/

A Q & A on English and all its varieties World Englishes are localized or indigenized varieties of English spoken throughout the world by people of diverse cultural backgrounds in a wide r...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/01/a-q-and-a-on-english-and-all-its-varieties-interactive-map/

Etymologicon and other books on etymology In the previous post, I answered the first question from our correspondents (idioms with the names of body parts in them) and promised to ...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/01/etymologicon-and-other-books-on-etymology/

Back to work: body and etymology While the blog was dormant, two questions came my way, and I decided to answer them at once, rather than putting them on a back burner. Today, I’ll deal w...

https://blog.oup.com/2024/01/back-to-work-body-and-etymology/