124: linguistics and language Apr 11, 2015

The words 'linguistics' and 'language' originate from the same Latin word, 'lingua', so it might seem odd to have such different sounds from each other. The reason why 'language' sounds, and looks, different to its Latin origin is not only that more common words change faster than less commonly used words, but also, the word 'language' sounds different because the word 'linguistics' came more directly to English from Latin, but 'language' came to English via the French word 'langage'.

125: bow Apr 12, 2015

English being the seemingly nonsensical language it is, has quite a number of homonyms, with the same spelling but different pronunciations. There is a reason for words such as 'bow' (as in archery) and 'bow' (as in bend the upper-body respectfully), having the same spellings. It is because they come from the same origin-word, 'būgan', which meant "to bend", as in the curved wood of a bow, or a bend at the hip.

123: dumb Apr 10, 2015

Everyone now has an understanding of what 'dumb' means, be it 'stupid', 'socially inept' and/or 'dull', but this word did not always have such connotations. The word 'dumb', came to English from the Gothic 'dumbs', which meant 'mute'. Although this word still means "someone who cannot speak", some dictionaries no longer include this definition, as it is becoming archaic. Where the original sense of this word remains is in the words 'dumbstruck' and 'dumbfound'.

122: fax Apr 9, 2015

There are a lot of words that people take for granted, especially newer words, such as 'fax'. As such, you might now be thinking, "are there any interesting fax about this word?"
The word, 'fax' like much of technological vernacular, it is an abbreviated word, in this case, 'facsimile', which means an exact copy, especially of written or printed works. Unlike much of technological vernacular however, the word facsimile dates back to the 16th century, denoting the copying of written poetry.

121: "harkened at one's beck and call" Apr 8, 2015

There is a common expression that is used almost idiomatically, "harkened (hearkened) at one's beckoned-call". This phrase is not used correctly, for there is no such thing as a "beckoned-call". Although it almost makes sense, beckoning does give the sense of the call of someone else, the actual phrase is "harkened at one's beck and call".

120: nice Apr 7, 2015

Niceness is one of the kindest qualities one can have, at least nowadays, however, this word did not always have denotation such. The word 'nice' comes from the Latin verb 'nescire', which means, "to be ignorant", or "to be unknowing", and until fairly recently, would have been used as an insult. The reason that 'nice' means what it does to most people today is due to the negative version of the word being used almost exclusively, sarcastically.

119: albino and album Apr 6, 2015

What do music and creatures lacking melanin have in common‽ The words 'album' and 'albino' both are derived from the same Latin word, 'albus', which means white. It is no difficult guess why 'albino' comes from a word meaning 'white', but album is perhaps a bit more complicated; the word 'album' denotes something blank, which is to be filled, by songs or photos or whatever you please, and so an album is simply something blank, and as such, (conceptually anyway) white.

118: O versus Oh Apr 5, 2015

Have you ever wondered why sometimes you might see the exclamation 'oh', and other times you will read 'o'‽ There is a difference, however nobody much makes the distinction. 'O' is an exclamation of direct address, so it would be used in a sentence such as, "o Word Facts, your posts are ever so insightful and entertaining". 'Oh', however, is an exclamation used to express a range of emotions. The differentiation, still, is a bit archaic.

117: adjective Apr 4, 2015

The word 'adverb' itself suggests, at least as aspect, of what they modify. The word 'adjective', however has nothing to do with whatever 'jective' modifiers might be. The word 'adjective' comes from the Latin 'adject-' which means, ‘added’, coming from the verb adjicere, a combination of 'ad' meaning ‘toward’ and 'jacere' which means ‘ to throw.’ The term was originally used in the phrase "noun adjective", translating in Latin to "nomen adjectivum". This Latin phrase is a translation of the Greek phrase, "onoma epitheton", which means ‘attributive name.’

116: cracker Apr 3, 2015

Hello everyone. Today's word is 'cracker'. This word has several meanings, two of which; the teller of a joke, and the derogatory term, are what Word Facts will cover for today. The word 'cracker', in terms of a low-class white-person, comes from the crack of a whip, which came from the first cowboys in America, in Florida, when the Spanish brought cows to the New World. This word, in the sense of "cracking jokes", was first used by Shakespeare in King John II, "what cracker is this same that deafs our ears with this abundance of superfluous breath?".

115: mate Apr 2, 2015

Spring has sprung (even if it is only marginally warmer): a time of rebirth, with the underlying notion of mating. The word 'mate' (both noun and verb) comes from late Middle English through the Middle Low-German word 'māt(e)'. The original sense of this word was ‘comrade,’ which was related to meat, with the understanding of eating [meat] together. The denotation of this word as sex came much later.

114: fool Apr 1, 2015

Happy April-Fools Day. The word 'fool' comes from the Latin word 'follis', which means 'bag' or more literally 'bellows'. The sort of Middle English slang word 'fol' connoted especially an empty bag and by extension, an empty-headed person.

113: march Mar 31, 2015

Happy final day of March everyone. 'March', as a month, considered often as the first month of spring, comes from the Roman god of war, Mars. The verb march, although also having connotations towards war, has separate etymology, originating from the french word, 'marcher', which now means 'to walk', however this word used mean 'to trample'.

112: Slug– Mar 30, 2015

Mondays are seldom easy for most of us to even get out of bed for, let alone carry out a day's work. Slugs in turn may be slow-moving and give an impression of grotesqueness, but the word 'sluggish' is not a derivative of the word 'slug', at least not directly. The word 'sluggish' comes from the word 'sluggard'. Interestingly, the word 'sluggard' comes from 'slug' as in alcohol, because when someone has been slugging slugs of hard alcohol, it is pretty safe to say that that person will be fairly slow-moving and groggy.

111: "I'm up for that" "I'm down for that" Mar 29, 2015

Slang words and phrases follow no strict rules, neither in grammar nor logic. As such, the two common phrases, "I'm up for that", and "I'm down for that" can exist and mean the exact same thing of, "I am willing, even eager, for any given thing". Regardless of the level to which English is nonsensical and convoluted, it, in this case, is not entirely to blame for such recently created slang words and phrases.

110: guillotine Mar 28, 2015

Today's word is 'guillotine', named after Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814), the French physician who recommended its use for executions in 1789. This man was a pacifist of sorts and believed this device would be a more humane way to execute people, however it was the cause and symbol for the deaths of tens of thousands.

109: ecstasy Mar 27, 2015

The ancient Festivals of Dionysus, held in Athens, honored of the Greek god Dionysus, in which, theater performances of tragedies and comedies were judged. Dionysus (also Dionysos and less commonly Dionysius) is the Greek god of wine and the theater. To become more at one with Dionysus, one can partake in theater, and or drink wine, the more wine one drinks, the more at one that person will be with Dionysus. Needless to say there was much of both at these festivals. This action, of seeming to be outside one's own body, either through dramatics or through drinking was called 'ekstasis' which literally means ‘standing outside oneself', and it is where the word 'ecstasy' comes from.

108: nothing Mar 26, 2015

What do the richest people want for, that the poorest people have, and that if anyone is to eat, that person will die?
The word 'nothing' comes from the Old English, "nān thing", which literally means "none thing", but the sense of "no [thing]" would have been understood.

107: wednesday Mar 25, 2015

Happy hump-day everyone. The word 'Wednesday' comes from Old English, through the word 'Wōdnesdæg', originating from the Germanic god Odin. The reason that this word begins with the letter 'w' is because that letter is a glide, resulting in an easier-to-pronounce 'o' sound, made far before spelling was standardized.
For those of you that do not know, a 'glide' is "a sound produced as the vocal organs move toward or away from articulation of a vowel or consonant for example 'y' in mute"

106: coquette Mar 24, 2015

The word 'coquette', which means, "a flirtatious woman" (if one should like to refer to a flirtatious man, the word is, 'coquet', however it is mostly outdated), is related to the french word 'coq', which, you guessed it, means 'cock'.