God rest you merry, gentlemen, Let nothing you dismay Traditional English Christmas carol The three words I’m going to write about in this post are pretty much inextricably linked with Christmas, but all of them started off meaning something different from their current usage. ˈmɛrɪ merry: cheerful and lively; characterized by festivity and … Continue reading Merry, Jolly, Happy
Tag Archives: Etymology
Gangrel
ˈɡæŋɡrəl gangrel (noun): a vagabond, vagrant or wandering beggar; a lanky, loose-limbed person; a toddler (Scottish hillwalking: a person who wanders far among the hills) Only the real gangrel penetrates this remote corrie with its shivering waters and black Sgurr. Hamish Brown, Hamish’s Mountain Walk (1978) Brown is talking about Loch a’ Choire Mhoir, … Continue reading Gangrel
Latin Plurals: Nouns Ending In -a
First Latin scholar: Crispin, I have some fresh lime. Would you decline a tequila? Second Latin scholar: Certainly. Tequil-a, tequil-am, tequil-ae, tequil-ae, tequil-ā. Tequil-ae, tequil-ās, tequil-ārum, tequil-īs, tequil-īs. That’s a very old joke, referring to Latin first-declension feminine nouns. (My, what a laugh we used to have at the expense of those poor Classics students.) … Continue reading Latin Plurals: Nouns Ending In -a
Latin Plurals: Nouns Ending in -us
Most Latin words in -us have plural in -i, but not all, & so zeal not according to knowledge issues in such oddities as hiati, octopi, omnibi & ignorami … H.W. Fowler, A Dictionary Of Modern English Usage (1926) Writing about the noun form of bogus recently made me think about nouns ending in … Continue reading Latin Plurals: Nouns Ending in -us
Bogus
ˈbəʊɡəs bogus (noun): a press for producing counterfeit coins; a counterfeit coin bogus (adjective): not real, counterfeit, existing in order to deceive bogus (adjective, 21st Century): bad, wrong, inappropriate Bogus is a potentially expensive word. Back in 2008, the science writer Simon Singh wrote an opinion piece for The Guardian newspaper, entitled “Beware The Spinal … Continue reading Bogus
Septentrionate
sɛpˈtɛntrɪənˌeɪt septentrionate: to tend, or point, to the north This word septentrion and its derivatives are hardly anglicized; they are harsh, unnecessary and little used, and may well be suffered to pass into disuse. Noah Webster, American Dictionary Of The English Language (1828) The Septentrion is pictured above—the seven stars that make up the asterism … Continue reading Septentrionate
Wassail
ˈwɒs(ə)l / ˈwæs(ə)l / ˈwɒseɪl / ˈwæseɪl wassail: a salutation spoken when presenting a cup of wine or drinking to another’s health; the wine drunk on such an occasion; the custom of drinking wine in this way on special occasions; a carousal or celebration; a song sung during such a carousal or celebration; to celebrate … Continue reading Wassail
Perihelion: Part 3
At last, the final instalment of my series of posts about words relating to perihelion. In my first post on the subject, I discussed the various technical terms in astronomical use (and some that have simply been invented by Wikipedians). In my second post, I discussed words formed from the prefix peri-, and its opposite, … Continue reading Perihelion: Part 3
Nosthedony
nɒstˈhiːdəneɪ nosthedony: The pleasure to be gained from examining old objects Many of the [museum’s] objects touched me with nosthedony—the pleasure of returning to the past. For in many of the items I saw reflected a time when human life was different, perhaps less secure, certainly less austere. Brian Aldiss “Appearance of Life” (1976) Like … Continue reading Nosthedony
Muriel Gray: The First Fifty
Right, this is a little odd. I’m not actually going to review this one. It comes up purely in the context of something I found on my hard drive that I’d completely forgotten about. First, a bit of background. Muriel Gray had been around as a TV presenter and columnist for quite a while when … Continue reading Muriel Gray: The First Fifty