We take a look at the etymology behind the dreaded word ‘bill’

1st Sep 2016

Bill The news that Apple is facing the world’s largest tax bill prompts an investigation into why we use the word ‘bill’ to refer to a statement of money owed. It turns out that the origins of ‘bill’ can be traced to the Latin word bulla, which means ‘a… Read More

Zombie knife, British invasion, and Traingate: August’s words in the news

31st Aug 2016

There are some words and phrases that instantly make you go “Woah, what does that mean?” And zombie knife is one of them. So what is a zombie knife, why do you need one, and where can you get one? Well, zombie knives are (allegedly) decorative or novelty… Read More

From ‘trickini’ to ‘zoodles’, Lucy Mangan takes a look at your recent word submissions

17th Aug 2016

There is just time, in the dog days of August, for the ‘trickini’ (submitted by tikitaka) to make an appearance. This is underwear that passes muster as a bikini, for those days when – um – I guess you can’t be bothered to put a bikini on instead of underwear… Read More

We take a look at the etymology behind the word ‘podium’

16th Aug 2016

Podium Like the Olympic Games in which it features so prominently, the word ‘podium’ has its origins in ancient Greece. Greek architects thought that a low structure that supported a colonnade or wall looked like a small foot, and so they called it a podion (‘a little foot’). In… Read More

Pokémon, Article 50, and Regrexit: July’s words in the news

2nd Aug 2016

The latest Harry Potter is all the rage, Clinton is running for President of the United States, and everyone in the world is hunting Pokémon. It’s like my late teens come back to life. But with Brexit. Strange though it may seem in a month that saw the Tour… Read More

We take a look at the etymology behind the word ‘sedentary’

29th Jul 2016

Sedentary Scientists have recently warned that a sedentary lifestyle may be as dangerous to our health as smoking. As Collins Cobuild Dictionary explains, someone who has a sedentary lifestyle or job sits down a lot of the time and does not take much exercise. The origin of the word… Read More

From ‘pregret’ to ‘verklempt’, Lucy Mangan takes a look at your latest word submissions

22nd Jul 2016

Our increasingly turbulent times are again reflected in readers’ latest submissions. Since we last spoke, there have been more terrorist attacks around the world, more police shootings in the US, continuing post-Brexit shenanigans this side of the pond and the nomination of an orange madman as the Republican presidential candidate. Read More

We take a look at the etymology behind the word ‘genius’

14th Jul 2016

GeniusThe arrival on our television screens of the show Child Genius prompts this month’s Etymology Corner to look into why we refer to people who possess uncanny mental ability as ‘geniuses’. The idea of a ‘genius’ originated in ancient Rome. The Romans believed that all people had… Read More

From ‘bregret’ to ‘haven assets’, Lucy Mangan takes a look at your recent word submissions

4th Jul 2016

Brokay. Let’s brget it all brout of the way brnow, yes, and brmove onto other things. There’s Bregret (from contributor MelonyLiar) amongst those who voted to leave the EU but woke up on June 24 to find that what they (Bregrexiteers, from AustinAllegro) intended as a cathartic protest had… Read More