185: Shall versus Will (Should versus Would) Jun 11, 2015

There are a few modal verbs, the usage of which is often unknown to many people. The difference between shall and will is that 'shall' is traditionally used with first person pronouns, while 'will' is used with second and third person pronouns. This goes for the verbs 'should' and 'would' as well ('should is used for first person, 'would, second and third). The only times when this switches for 'shall' and 'will' is for emphasis, as when emphasizing, one traditionally says 'will' in the first person and 'shall' in the second and third person. The only times 'should' is used in the second and third person is for use giving a command.

184: jesus and buddha Jun 10, 2015

Some religious figures were not born with the names many refer to them as. The Buddha's given name was Siddhartha Gautama; and the word Buddha comes from a Sanskrit word literally meaning, ‘enlightened,’ which is the past participle of 'budh' meaning ‘to know.’ Additionally, Jesus of Nazareth was not named Jesus Christ. 'Christ' comes ultimately from Greek. The Modern English, 'Christ' has a complicated derivation; it comes from the Old English word 'Crīst', from Latin, 'Christus', from Greek Khristos, nounal use of an adjective meaning ‘anointed,’ which in turn derives from 'khriein' meaning ‘anoint'.

183: demi semi hemi Jun 9, 2015

Word Facts has been around for exactly 6 months, today! To mark this half a year, Word Facts will cover 'hemi-' 'demi-' and 'semi-'. Both 'semi-' and 'demi-' are Latin, while 'hemi-' is Greek. 'Demi-' finds its derivation from the word 'dimidius' meaning half. 'Semi-' and 'hemi-' are both related; 'hemi-' is mostly used for words of Greek origin (like hemisphere), while 'semi-' is used for words that come out of Latin (such as semicircle), and is now used for many recently-created words.

182: till Jun 8, 2015

There are a lot of abbreviated words in common speech;" 'cause" "gonna" are included among them: words that are not words of their own. "Till" is its own word, not just an abbreviation of "until". The reason that 'till' is not an abbreviation even though it appears to be is that it was a word before 'until' was, deriving from the Old English, 'til'. 'Until' is the combination of 'und' which means ‘as far as’ and the word 'til'.

181: vulgar Jun 7, 2015

When film first came out, or when films were being produced out of Eastern Europe following the collapse of the Soviet Union, they were very experimental, and very different to what is popular, both globally and within the United States today. Often now, for a film to be successful, it has to cover some vulgar topic: sex or violence. The word vulgar is most commonly used now to mean, "lacking sophistication or good taste, especially making explicit and offensive reference to sex". It comes from the Latin, 'vulgus' meaning ‘common people’ (for example, vulgar Latin is just the Latin used by the masses; it is not to say it is crude, per se).

180: pariah Jun 6, 2015

At some point, most of us have probably felt like a pariah, none more than the Hindu caste, the untouchables. 'Pariah' is a Tamil word, which comes from the plural noun 'paṛaiyar', (the singular of which is paṛaiyan') meaning ‘(hereditary) drummer’. 'Paṛaiyar' derives from 'paṛai' which is ‘a drum’. This may not seem to makes sense with our definition of a pariah, but the reason is that these untouchables, these pariahs, were not allowed to join in with religious drumming processions.

179: symposium Jun 5, 2015

I hope that some of you were able to come to the symposium, The Development of Languages by Horses. The word symposium, meaning, “a conference or meeting to discuss a particular subject” ultimately comes from the Greek, 'sumposion'. This word entered English via Latin from 'sumpotēs' which means ‘fellow drinker,’ originally denoting a drinking party.

178: oxygen Jun 4, 2015

A lot of recently discovered elements on the periodic table are given names after influential people, or the place it was discovered (can you guess where americium was discovered?). Oxygen, however, discovered in the late 18th century, comes from the French, "(principe) oxygène" which means "acidifying constituent". The reason behind this name was because at first it was held to be the essential component in the formation of acids.

177: jumbo Jun 3, 2015

Word Facts has been stalling for quite some time, but will finally address the elephant in the room. Originally preserved for use describing a person, the epithet, 'jumbo' probably derives from the second element of mumbo-jumbo. It originally denoted a large and clumsy person, the term was popularized as the name of an elephant at the London Zoo, Jumbo, sold in 1882 to the Barnum and Bailey circus.

176: lothario Jun 2, 2015

A 'lothario' is defined as "a man who behaves selfishly and irresponsibly in his sexual relationships with women". This word is rather new–as etymologies go–only 312 years old. How can you be so exact‽ you might ask. This word comes from the name of a character in Rowe's, Fair Penitent, a play from 1703.

175: internet Jun 1, 2015

To go on the Internet is less idiomatic that than you might think. The Internet is actually a proper noun and is the reason that it is capitalized. Over time it has become more common and acceptable to spell it with a lower case 'i'.

174: eavesdrop May 31, 2015

Before the invention and popularization of guttering roofs made with wide eaves, overhangs to keep rainwater from damaging the walls and foundations by making the rain fall away from the house were used. This space was known as an eavesdrop. The large overhang gave good cover for those who wished to lurk in shadows and listen to others’ conversations, giving us the word 'eavesdrop'. Interestingly, the area under the eaves was considered part of the house owner’s property, so one could be fined under Anglo-Saxon law for being under the eaves with the intention of spying.

173: clue May 30, 2015

A clue to the origin of the word 'clue' is in its derivation from the Middle English word 'clew', meaning "ball of thread". This may not be of much help unless you are clued up on Greek mythology. The story goes that the hero Theseus was given a ball of thread to help him find his way out of the labyrinth of Minos. By following the trail of thread he left behind him he was able to navigate his way to the exit. The word 'clue' then became associated with anything which might hint at the solution.

172: gerrymander May 29, 2015

To gerrymander is to manipulate the boundaries of an electoral constituency so as to favor one party or class. This word was invented in the early 19th century, and comes from the name of Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, combined with the word salamander, from the supposed similarity between a salamander and the shape of a new voting district on a map drawn when he was in office (which was 1812). These borders were changed to make a voting district that was felt to favor his party: the map (with claws, wings, and fangs added), was published in the Boston Weekly Messenger, with the title The Gerry-Mander.

171: toxic May 28, 2015

The word 'toxic' comes from the Latin word 'toxicum' which simply meant ‘poison’. Not a lot has changed in meaning since then, but there was a great change before it came to Latin. This word ultimately comes from Greek "toxikon (pharmakon)" which meant "(poison for) arrows", which came from 'toxon' which meant a 'bow'.

For more on 'bow', click here.

170: dunce May 27, 2015

Words often change meanings over time. The word 'dunce' for example, originally was a designation for a follower of John Duns Scotus, a famous and influential philosopher before the Renaissance. During the Renaissance, however, his followers were ridiculed by those wanting to reform; and the dunces were seen as enemies of new, more modern styles of learning.

169: well good god! May 26, 2015

There is a correction on the last sentence.

Why is it that the adverbial form of 'good', 'well'‽ The reason is that not only did they come from different words entirely, but completely different meanings. 'Well' comes from the Old English adjective 'wel' which meant more or less what the adverb does today. 'Good', however, comes from the Old English 'gōd', which meant "god, deity".

168: "agree with" versus "agree to" May 25, 2015

There are many rules in English that are not often taught, but as a speaker people understand. The difference between "agree with" and "agree to" is that agreement with is designated for people, for instance, "you agreed with her" or "that borscht did not agree with me" (if you have indigestion), whereas agreement to is designated for something nonliving (inanimate objects and concepts).

167: Past Participles May 24, 2015

Past participles of verbs can act as adjectives, for instance, "the swum lake" or "the employed woman". In addition, to make a word for the agent of a verb, one usually only needs to add 'er'. This means that many sentences may be created such as "the killer kills the killed" however grim.

166: laser and maser May 23, 2015

'Laser' stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation", and originates from the 1960's. This pattern was taken from an earlier acronym from the 1950s: 'maser', which stands for "microwave amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation".