Paul Anthony Jones

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Paul Anthony Jones is a writer and musician from Newcastle upon Tyne. He is the author of word origins guide Haggard Hawks and Paltry Poltroons, and runs its tie-in Twitter account @HaggardHawks.

11 Things That Are Forbidden in British Parliament

Better not call anyone a "stoolpigeon."... READ ON

17 Hilarious Definitions from Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language was published 263 years ago this month.... READ ON

18 Words to Welcome Spring

Unless we have some winnol-weather or lamb-blasts on the way, it seems spring is finally coming.... READ ON

20 Bizarre Beasts From Ancient Bestiaries

1. The bonnacon sprayed flaming hot dung, leaving a stinking trail as long as 660 yards behind it.... READ ON

13 Mnemonic Sentences To Boost Your General Knowledge

“A Big Secret Conceals Her Past” will help you remember the names (and order) of Henry VIII's wives.... READ ON

25 Smart Synonyms You Should Be Using

In honor of Thesaurus Day, these 25 smart synonyms will help reboot your vocabulary.... READ ON

The Tiger that Briefly Terrorized 19th Century London

Amazingly, everyone survived.... READ ON

10 Wonderful Old Words For Winter Ailments That We Need to Bring Back

Winter has arrived, and you're likely reaching for the vitamin C to keep colds and the flu at bay. If the bad weather catches up with you though, here are 10 cold weather and winter ailment words you might find indispensable.... READ ON

Wilson A. Bentley: The Man Who Photographed Snowflakes

His research is credited with establishing the theory that no two snowflakes are alike.... READ ON

4 Dickens Christmas Stories You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Such was the success of 'A Christmas Carol' that the four festive stories he published in the following years—some overlooked classics, others critical flops and missteps—have since largely become eclipsed by their better-known predecessor, and today remain among the least well-known of Dickens’s back catalogue.... READ ON

Hyperinflation Gone Mad: When German Children Made Kites From Money

Early in 1922, the German Papiermark—the currency of the Weimar Republic—was valued at around 200 Marks to the U.S. dollar. By November 1923, that figure had risen to 4,200,000,000,000.... READ ON

4 Phonetic Alphabets That Didn't Survive

Long before "Alpha, Bravo, Charlie," there was "Amsterdam, Baltimore, Casablanca."... READ ON

10 Facts About Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary

Happy World Dictionary Day!... READ ON

25 Words That Don’t Mean What They Used To

It’s to be expected that the words we use will change and develop over time. In some instances, these developments can lead to words gaining new meanings entirely different from their original implications.... READ ON

25 Words That Don’t Mean What You Think They Do

You can flout these rules, but you can't flaunt them.... READ ON

25 Smart Words You Should Be Using But Aren’t

There are countless words lying ignored in the murkier corners of the dictionary. Here's how to use them.... READ ON

Beyond “Buffalo buffalo”: 9 Other Repetitive Sentences From Around The World

Repetitive or so-called antanaclastic sentences and tongue twisters like these are by no means unique to English—here are a few in other languages that you might want to try.... READ ON

When Lexicographer Samuel Johnson Became a Ghostbuster

Sam ain't afraid of no ghosts.... READ ON

7 Other Great Fires of London

Throughout history, the city of London has been all but destroyed by fire on more than a dozen different occasions—usually accidentally, sometimes deliberately.... READ ON

The Dangerous History Behind the Word 'Deadline'

Crossing this Civil War "deadline" could get you shot.... READ ON

How Paul Wittgenstein Paved the Way for One-Armed Concert Pianists

Thanks to the Austrian musician, there’s a remarkably sizable repertoire of compositions available exclusively for one-handed pianists.... READ ON

10 Long-Forgotten Expressions To Drop Into Conversation

Whether you’re sailing three sheets to the wind or flying by the seat of your pants, English allows you to drop what are (at face value at least) some pretty peculiar idioms and expressions into your everyday conversation.... READ ON

The Proper Names of 17 Bodily Functions

The next time you interrupt an important meeting with a ructus or a borborygmus, you’ll at least have the perfect word for it.... READ ON

6 Times Multiple Leaders Reigned in a Single Year

Ancient Rome had four emperors in one year, while France had three kings in six months.... READ ON

10 Composer vs. Composer Insults

From Beethoven to Stravinsky, 10 of the classical music world’s most cutting zingers.... READ ON

How Ancient Rome’s Scariest Ghosts Gave Their Name to Madagascar’s Lemurs

Though lemurs hail from Madagascar, they have a ghostly connection to Ancient Roman folklore.... READ ON

15 Unusual Patron Saints

St. Julian the Hospitaller's name refers to the fact that he opened a hostel for travellers and dedicated his life to providing hospitality for the sick and needy—but only after he’d killed his parents in a twist on the story of Oedipus. For that reason, he’s the patron saint of murderers, should you ever need one.... READ ON

30 Excellent Terms From a 17th Century Slang Dictionary

If you’ve ever wanted to talk like a 17th century swindler, now’s your chance.... READ ON

Tax Your Brain With 5 Victorian Riddles

Are you smarter than a Victorian?... READ ON

The Shakespeare Fraud That Tricked Late 18th Century London

In the 1790s, a teenager fooled London into thinking he was Shakespeare.... READ ON

Tax Your Brain With 5 Victorian Riddles

The Victorians also had an appetite for word games, riddles and logic puzzles, countless anthologies of which were published at the time.... READ ON

8 U.S. City Names That Might Have Been

Let's be glad the name "Pig's Eye, Minnesota" didn't stick.... READ ON

41 Facts About the 41 Kings and Queens Since 1066

Ahead of Queen Elizabeth II's birthdays (yes, she has two!), here is one fact each about all 41 of Britain’s kings and queens since 1066.... READ ON

22 Two-Letter Words To Boost Your 'Scrabble' Score

Among competitive 'Scrabble' players, two-letter words can be a crafty means of boosting your score.... READ ON

10 U.S. City Names That Might Have Been

It’s well known that New York was originally a Dutch colony named “New Amsterdam.” Less well known is the fact that, at the height of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, a fleet of two dozen Dutch ships sailed into the harbor and briefly retook control of the city from the British—so that for a short time in the summer of 1673, it was officially named “New Orange.”... READ ON

The 19th Century Aristocrat Who Literally Painted The Town Red

What does painting—and, for that matter, painting things red—have to do with what Merriam-Webster defines as “to go out drinking, dancing, etc.”?... READ ON

9 Bizarre Objects Owned by Henry VIII

The most famous king in British history owned some very unusual curiosities indeed.... READ ON

Pink Used To Be Yellow (No, Really)

Look up the word pink in the dictionary, and you’ll probably find a lot more definitions than you might have expected. But of all the word’s meanings, the oldest on record is one that appears in only the most comprehensive dictionaries: Pink used to be yellow.... READ ON

The Mysterious 19th Century ‘Princess' Who Fooled a Town

One day in 1817, a woman named "Princess Caraboo" appeared seemingly out of nowhere.... READ ON

11 Words Coined 100 Years Ago

"O.M.G." made its first documented appearance a century ago—in a letter to Winston Churchill.... READ ON

'Fake' Etymology: The Story Behind One of the Dictionary’s Most Intriguing Words

The story behind one of today's big buzzwords goes all the way back to the secret slang of early 19th century criminals.... READ ON

The Strange Case of Everet vs. Williams: When Two Highwaymen Took Each Other To Court

Former business partners battling it out in court isn't so unusual—unless that "business" involves robbing unsuspecting gentlemen.... READ ON

Would You Have Passed This 1920s Pronunciation Test?

"Penelope Cholmondely raised her azure eyes from the crabbed scenario" is just the beginning.... READ ON

30 Little-Used Loanwords To Add Some Je Ne Sais Quoi To Your Vocabulary

10 Backwards Words That Ended Up In The Dictionary

From allerednic to yob, these ananyms and semi-ananyms have backed their way into the dictionary.... READ ON

What Happened When Elizabeth I Organized A National Lottery

Almost 450 years ago, even Queen Elizabeth I got in on the act by organizing the very first national lottery in English history—and perhaps the first state-sanctioned lottery in the English-speaking world.... READ ON

11 Words and Phrases You Didn’t Know Had Opposites

Prepone! Dysphemism! Déjà vécu!... READ ON

13 Alternative Lyrics From “The Twelve Days of Christmas”

Liven up your singing of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" by subbing in these old—and occasionally strange—lyrics.... READ ON

The Story Behind Lewis Carroll’s Unsolvable Riddle

The Mad Hatter’s riddle remains one of Lewis Carroll’s most enduring puzzles.... READ ON

How An Obscure British Comedy Sketch Became The World’s Most Repeated TV Program

It's gained a cult audience all over the world—and is especially popular in Germany.... READ ON

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