Why Do We Call Kindergarten Kindergarten?
This very German word became embedded in the American vernacular—but not before German politicians tried to ban kindergarten entirely.
This very German word became embedded in the American vernacular—but not before German politicians tried to ban kindergarten entirely.
Understanding the difference between ‘immigrate’ and ‘emigrate’ requires a fun little dive into the world of Latin prefixes.
If you’ve been spelling ‘restaurateur’ with an ‘n’ for your entire life, don't feel bad. But here’s why you’re wrong.
White collar jobs are purportedly better paying and more respectable than blue collar jobs—here’s how that came to be.
If we’re being pedantic here (and we are), ‘vaccination’ and ‘immunization’ shouldn't be used interchangeably.
'Fall off the wagon,' which is typically used to describe someone who has begun drinking alcohol after a period of abstinence, does not actually involve anyone tumbling off a horse-drawn carriage.
It started centuries ago, when puddings contained spices, cereal, and potentially putrid minced meat.
Lame duck presidents date back to the beginning of U.S. history, but we didn’t start calling them that until the 20th century.
It all started as a reminder about which relatives the Catholic Church prohibited you from marrying.
After a remorseful Judas returned his payment for betraying Jesus, the high priests used it to buy the very first potter’s field.
We don’t know exactly when or why noon began to refer to 12 p.m., but it could have something to do with hungry monks.
If our hands turn into a mess of smeared dirt when gardening, how come we have green thumbs? Why not green fingers?
‘Coronavirus’ is named for how it looks under a microscope, but that’s not the only way to name a virus or disease.
The name for the classic St. Patrick’s Day tricksters comes from a very weird ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia.
The Chicago-based women name about 200 generic drugs per year, and the naming process is very scientific … sometimes.
Where did people get the idea that Jesus had a middle name? Well, Mark Twain has a funny story about that.
They're both cute and fluffy with big ears, but that's where the similarities end. It gets even more complicated when bunnies and jackrabbits are thrown into the mix …
When some words hit the big time, they left clunky related words behind.
What's next?
The game of hopscotch has nothing to do with little kids skipping over glasses of Johnnie Walker. What is going on?
It might have something to do with baseball in the late 1800s.
The term was first applied to people, not pumpkins.
They're not completely interchangeable.
Chances are, you use some of these expressions in conversation frequently—maybe even every day. But where do they come from, anyway?