ˈpɒdəʊskæf Podoscaph: A canoe-shaped float attached to the foot, for walking on water The word is formed by attaching the Greek prefix pod(o)- (derived from pous, meaning “foot”) to skaphos, “ship”. In the fifteenth century, Leonardo da Vinci toyed with podoscaph design—but, realizing that they wouldn’t be a particularly stable mode of locomotion, he sketched … Continue reading Podoscaph →

Television? The word is half Greek, half Latin. No good can come of it. C.P. Scott, editor of the Manchester Guardian Hybrid formations are words made up of elements derived from different languages. Some people can get very annoyed about this, as did C.P. Scott, above, back in the early days of television. Scott was … Continue reading Hybrid Words →

ɔɪkəʊˈfjuːʤɪk Oikofugic: Having a desire to leave home,  an urge to wander or travel This word was coined in 1904 by the psychologist G. Stanley Hall, in his two-volume opus Adolescence: Its Psychology and Its Relations to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, and Religion. (Given the title, it’s amazing that he managed to hold it … Continue reading Oikofugic →