The amazing histories of words we use every day.
Here is a diagram showing the different words we might use for the concept of “Walk.” The red color signifies home words, the blue signifies educated words, the purple signifies scholarly or scientific words, and the gray (like the dust in our attics) signifies rare or poetic words. We use Level One words when we … More How many ways can you say “walk”?
As a Level One word, a post is a pole or large stick of wood, used to fasten or attach things to. In this picture, the horse is tied to a hitching post. The word is very old in English–it comes through Old French from Latin postis. But post in Latin (not postis) also means (as a preposition) “after.” There are many … More Your Word for the Day: “Post” Words Meaning “After”
“Fantastic” and “Fabulous” …used to mean something completely different These words, so often used to express a great admiration for someone or something, didn’t originally mean what most people think they mean. “Fantastic” comes from the Greek phantazein, or imagination. It’s related to the English “phantasm,” or a ghost, imaginary creature, nightmare creature. So “fantastic” … More Your word for the day: Fantastic, Fabulous
Em Turner Chitty 