407: (Mentally) Challenged Jan 19, 2015

Challenged means in a broad sense 'opposed or rivaled by something', but with a preceding adverb (e.g. mentally challenged) it spins terms 'disabled' and 'handicapped'. This began in the 1980's in the United States to try and remove certain stigma's. People soon mocked the euphemistic usage of 'challenged', and used the word ironically with the intent to jest, such as 'vertically challenged' meaning 'short'.

406: homage Jan 18, 2016

'Homage' now means publicly shown respect, but it has changed meaning over time. Historically, the word denoted an "acknowledgment of feudal allegiance". Homage derives from the medieval Latin word 'hominaticum', from the root 'homo' meaning ‘man’. Originally, 'homage' denoted the ceremony which was a vassal's declaration that he was his lord's “man”.

405: decorum Jan 17, 2016

'Decorum' is etiquette, or good manners, and is related to 'decorate' etymologically. 'Decorum' came to English in the mid 16th century usually used in literature to denote suitability of style, ultimately deriving from Latin, 'decorus' meaning ‘seemly.’ Over time 'decorate' moved from meaning ‘to grace or honor’ into what we know today, similar to its meaning from Latin 'decoratus' meaning ‘embellished’.

404: rip Jan 16, 2016

Many people know "RIP", if not from actual tombstones, then from the popularity of the word. Although it is similar, the acronym is not short for "rest in peace". Instead, the phrase is from the Latin tombstone-abbreviation for "requiēscat in pāce". 'Requiēscat' is formed from the verb meaning "rest", but it is subjunctive, and should be translated as “may s/he rest in peace”, which is somewhat kinder than an imperative command to be restful.

403: mr. and mrs. Jan 15, 2016

Mr. and Mrs. are thought of as abbreviations for ‘mister’ and ‘missus’. Although this is how people speak today, those are not the true origins of the abbreviation. 'Mr.' is short for 'master' and 'Mrs.' is an abbreviation of 'mistress'. The change from 'master' and 'mistress' is a result of changes in speech and pronunciation at the early days of Modern English, similar to the simplification of "ma'am" from "madam".

402: rubric Jan 14, 2015

'Rubric' is often thought of as a set of criteria, but it has a more important meaning as well. It came to English several centuries ago as 'rubrish' which originally denoted the heading of a document, which was written in red as to stand out. This ultimately comes from the Latin word, "rubrica terra" meaning ‘red earth' since clay would be used as a writing material.

401: audience Jan 13, 2015

Although every good audience ought to take advantage of all senses, including sight and hearing, the best audiences are quiet so that everyone may listen. 'Audience' comes from the Latin 'audientia', which comes from 'audire' meaning 'to hear.’

400: gesundheit Jan 12, 2016

In many English speaking countries, the common response to someone else sneezing is 'bless you'. Sometimes, however, someone might interject, 'gesundheit'. This word is an Americanism, and it comes directly from German meaning, 'health'. Broken down, 'gesund' means healthy and '-heit' is equivalent to English's '-hood', i.e. "a state of being healthy".

399: circumference Jan 11, 2016

What do geometers and environments have in common‽–very little in general, but the word 'circumstance' like words such as 'circumference', is related to 'circle'. 'Circumstance comes from one of two debated words, either Old French, 'circonstance' or directly from the 'Latin', 'circumstantia'. Whichever, the word derives from 'circumstare' in Latin, meaning ‘encircle, encompass’. It is not the individual words, but the sentiment, from where idioms such as "events surrounding..." come to be.

398: jeans (challenge) Jan 10, 2016

Most Americans like denim jeans
But not everyone knows what it means
Both word are a trade-town
That made trousers, not gowns
From cotton produced "serge de Nîmes"

The cotton, Denim was originally produced in the industrial city in France, Nîmes. The material was 'de Nîmes' meaning 'of Nîmes'. The material was tailored into pants in the Italian city Genoa, which is 'Gênes' in French, hence 'denim jeans' from 'de Nîmes' and 'Gênes'.

397: lunatic Jan 9, 2016

Anyone who is a hippy and or lived during the 1970's as according to the films has probably heard the phrase 'Mercury is in retrograde". Some people believe that the alignment of the planets and other cosmic entities affect people, turning them perhaps into lunatics, The word lunatic ultimately comes from late Latin 'lunaticus', which is derived from the word, 'luna' meaning ‘moon’ based upon the idea that changes of the moon leads to sporadic insanity.

396: chic Jan 8, 2016

French culture has been seen as especially elegant for many people since the Norman invasion of England. English has many words connoted as more intense–often legal or lavish culture. 'Chic' is thought of as originally French, however French, and by extension, English actually adopted the word from modern German word, 'Schick', meaning ‘skill’.

395: gregarious Jan 7, 2016

The word 'gregarious' is used mostly for people, specifically sociable people. The word came into English in the middle of the 17th century from the Latin word 'gregarius' from the word meaning ‘a flock’ or 'a heard'. In Latin, the word was used mostly for birds and sheep.

394: privation versus deprivation Jan 6, 2016

Prefixes are added to words generally changing the meaning slightly, but not making it into an entirely new word. 'Privation' comes ultimately from the Latin from 'privat-' meaning ‘deprived’ from the verb, 'privare' which is related to the English word, 'private'. Although both words have a similar meaning, as in something separated, 'deprivation' is its own word, and not just the addition of a prefix. It comes from late Middle English when it meant ‘removal from office’ which derives from the verb 'deprivare' which is related to the word 'deprive'.

393: shellfish Jan 5, 2016

How come neither shellfish nor starfish are even fish at all‽ The words 'shellfish', denoting any aquatic invertebrate with an exoskeleton that is commonly eaten, comes from the Old English 'scellfisc', from the two separate words for 'shell' and 'fish'. 'Starfish' has a similar etymology. The word 'fisc' in Old english simply meant "water-creature", and some say that in early Old English, the word even meant, "non-piscine water creature". Either way, we need not think of starfish or shellfish being similar to our modern understanding of fish.

392: 'feel good' versus 'feel well' Jan 4, 2016

There is some confusion over whether to say 'feel good' 'feel well'. While both are correct by anyone's standards, there are two different circumstances in which to use them. 'Feel' is a linking verb which means is connects a noun to the adjective which modifies it (ex 'is' in "the woman is kind"). For that reason, if a person is sick that person does not feel good, because the "not good" is attributes to the noun, not the verb. If someone did not posses sensitive fingers, that person would not feel well, because "not well" is attributed to the verb, not the noun.

391: although versus though Jan 3, 2016

'Although' and 'though' are both fairly similar words both meaning "despite that". The difference between these two words is that 'although' is more formal and tends to be preferred stylistically as the opener of sentences. Though takes some uses which although does not, such as its usage as a conjunction in the phrases "as though" or "even though". Though can also mean, 'however'.

390: -ass Jan 2, 2016

Slang often can become something of its own system. '-ass' as a suffix can be used in slang terms for two main purposes grammatically. The trend began with the suffix used with depreciatory reference, such as 'smart-ass' or 'lame-ass', but later was used as an intensifier, such as in the phrases, 'bomb-ass' 'crazy-ass'.

389: punch Jan 1, 2016

Punch comes from late Middle English as a noun meaning a tool used for stamping perhaps from 'puncheon', which like 'luncheon', has the same meaning as its abbreviated form. The verb comes from late Middle English in the sense 'puncture, prod', and is a variant of 'pounce'.

388: levy Dec 31, 2015

Today, 'levy' means to 'impose a tax', and an archaic sense of the word means to enlist somebody in the military. This word comes through Middle English as a noun from the Old French past participle of 'lever' meaning ‘raise’, where the major change in the definition of this word occurred. The ultimate derivation of this word is from the Latin verb, 'levare', which comes from 'levis' meaning ‘light’, because in the way that taxes rise, so does the sun.