“Every word was coined by a resourceful individual or borrowed as a result of language contact in a certain place at a certain time,” writes Anatoly Liberman in his new book, “Word Origins ...

The Etymology of the Words 'Food' and 'Meal' An exploration of the ancient origins of two of our most basic terms: "food" and "meal" By Sam Dean. August 30, 2013.

When Gulliver came across that race of brutes known as Yahoos during his travels to fantastic lands, who could have guessed that one day that name would be worth $200 billion on Wall Street ...

At Petertide, Andrew Davison explores the origins of words associated with Holy Orders. Illustrations by Dave Walker ...

“Language is just so amusing. It has playfulness built into it, and so does food,” said Dr. Tschann, who taught English and linguistics for many years at the University of Redlands, in California.

First Known Use: 1976 Etymology: An evolutionary biologist blended the ancient Greek word mimeme—meaning something imitated—with the English word gene, to set the stage for LOLcats, Success Kid, ...

Word nerd Jess Zafarris documents the darker side of language in ‘Words from Hell’ New book on the etymology of dirty words covers the origins of words about sex, war, and monsters Print this ...

Imagine a pack of wolves, howling in the Sabine Hills, 30 miles north of Rome. And imagine Pope Paul II, a plump pope in an age of very plump popes, sweating in his summer home.

GRAHAM, N.C. (WGHP) — The Alamance-Burlington School System is investigating after a teacher reportedly gave students an assignment involving the etymology of “swear words.” Graham Middle ...