etymology

Canines have inspired all kinds of words—and they’re not the only animals to have done so.

Animals have always been important to the lives and livelihoods of humans, so it’s no wonder they've left a mark on language.

This ‘dimber cove’ is ‘bughouse’ for his ‘dainty duck’ on Valentine’s Day.

Want to add some old-timey charm to your Valentine’s Day? From ‘bughouse’ to ‘zippy,’ learn about romantic terms from eras past to surprise and delight your loved one.

Retro Pepsi-Cola logos from the mid-20th century.

Pepsi-Cola was named for two ingredients that it doesn't (and possibly never did) contain.

Uncover the intriguing history of how the seasons got their names and the meanings behind them.

Decades after the footprints that popped up in northern California, they were alleged to be a hoax.

When 16-inch-long tracks began popping up on northern California logging sites in 1958, workers dubbed the culprit ‘Big Foot’—but decades later, the whole thing was revealed to be a hoax.

‘Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire’ by Russell Patterson.

From ‘alarm clock’ to ‘zozzled,’ these delightful 1920s terms will transport you back in time.

This person is literally feeling their oats—but is that where the phrase came from?

The idiom has little to do with playing with our food and more to do with equine diets.

In Gen X parlance, this dude totally rocks.

From yuppie to headbanger, we have Generation X to thank for these terms that became popular in the 1980s and ’90s.

Why go by the jellyfish’s English name when you could go with its more delightful French moniker instead?

En français, the name for ‘jellyfish’ comes from a famous figure in Greek mythology—can you guess which one?

Opening a can of worms, metaphorically speaking, is trying to solve a problem and ending up in more trouble. And the idiom really does refer to actual worms.

Deciding to write 'disc' or 'disk' depends on what kind of disc it is. Sometimes.

Let’s dive into the delicious history of the dumpling.

Dumplings are a delicious staple that transcends borders, but how did these doughy delights rise to international fame?

What did Scrooge mean when he said “Bah! Humbug!” anyway?

The meaning of ‘Bah, humbug!’ is a little more layered than what people normally attribute to Ebenezer Scrooge of ‘A Christmas Carol.’

Where the ‘nog’ came from is a bit of a mystery.

The ‘egg’ part of ‘eggnog’ is obvious. The ‘nog’ is a little more mysterious—possibly involving noggins and/or grog.

Here are 10 colorful phrases of yore to use the day after you partied a tad too passionately.

There’s no doubt about it—rotting food is gross.

The word ‘gross,’ which came to English from French, took on a variety of senses in English related to size. But the ‘gross of today is different from the ‘gross’ of the past thanks to teens.

Pigeons aren’t known to be particularly talkative birds.

‘The Nightmare’ by Henry Fuseli, circa 1871. Frame has been added.

Take a look at these 13 names from across the world that describe sleep paralysis and the demon once believed to cause it.

Use of the word ‘placebo’ in a medical context is more recent than you might think.

What is a placebo? Technically, a Latin phrase meaning ‘I will please.’ It’s also a Catholic prayer and a clever insult.

Even words that don’t seem scary might have spooky origins.

Ghosts, ghouls, and monsters turn up everywhere at Halloween—including in our language, and sometimes where you least expect.

The OED features 600,000 words over a thousand years of the English language.

It took more than 70 years and tons of volunteer labor to create “the definitive record of the English language”—including an assist from a murderer. Get to know the Oxford English Dictionary better.

The word ‘yo’ was around long before Rocky movies and rap songs.

If you were an 18th-century settler in Australia with no knowledge of marsupials, you just might decide to call a koala a ‘bear,’ right?

From the courts to the morgue, if the government doesn't know someone's name or wants to withhold it, they give them one of these as a placeholder. Why?

15 Common Words Inspired by Animals

20 Old-Fashioned Terms to Bring Back for Valentine’s Day

Pop Star: How Pepsi Got Its Name

Why Do We Call the Seasons Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter?

The Hoax That Led to the Word ‘Bigfoot’

1920s Slang: 35 Hotsy-Totsy Terms We Should Bring Back

Where Does the Phrase ‘Feeling One’s Oats’ Come From?

11 Words Gen Xers Made Popular

15 Delightfully Descriptive French Animal Names

Why Don’t We Want to ‘Open a Can of Worms’?

Disc vs. Disk: What’s the Difference?

An International History of Dumplings

What Does “Bah, Humbug!” Actually Mean?

How Did Eggnog Get Its Name?

10 Old-Timey Ways to Say You’re Hungover

How Did ‘Gross’ Become a Term of Disgust?

Why Is an Informant Called a ‘Stool Pigeon‘?

13 Names for the Sleep Paralysis Demon from Around the World

Why Is It Called the “Placebo Effect”?

10 Common Words With Spooky Etymologies

13 Fascinating Facts About the Oxford English Dictionary

The Surprisingly Long History of the Word ‘Yo’

Koalas Aren’t Bears, So Why Do People Call Them “Koala Bears”?

Why Are Unidentified People Called John or Jane Doe?