Tag: etymology

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Meaghan Steeves

Uses for a Dictionary (Besides Defining Words)

October 26, 2023 by Meaghan Steeves | 1 Comment on Uses for a Dictionary (Besides Defining Words)

Ever since I was a kid, I was taught to look up words I didn’t know in the dictionary. I used to think it was because the grown-ups were too busy to explain the meaning (or maybe I was being a pest). But now I can’t help but wonder whether I misjudged their reasons. I […]

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Victoria Neufeldt

Bold Words

February 18, 2014 by Victoria Neufeldt | Leave a Comment

One could say that bold words enter the language shouting. An example would be the word AIDS, which was coined in the early 1980s, probably by a journalist, as an initialism for the descriptive medical name of the disease: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Because the disease burst upon the world so devastatingly, the word AIDS was in the news just about […]

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Victoria Neufeldt

Shy Words

December 17, 2013 by Victoria Neufeldt | Leave a Comment

When I took on the commitment, a year ago, of contributing blog postings about language, I began bravely by tossing out a little ditty that came into my mind, inspired by Dr. Seuss: “New words, old words, shy words, bold words.” Well, I’ve talked about old words and new words, but shy words? What was […]

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Victoria Neufeldt

Old Words

April 16, 2013 by Victoria Neufeldt | 1 Comment on Old Words

Old words are just as interesting as new words.  But how old is old?  We use a good number of words today that go all the way back to Old English, the language of the Germanic peoples who invaded and then settled in England in the fifth century A.D.  These “native” words are some of […]

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