etymology

Know the origins of the names of your favorite Fall foods.

Fall is here, and you're getting hungry. Feast on this cornucopia of etymologies for seasonal veggies straight from the garden.

‘Fuksheet’ is another word for a sail on the foremast of a ship.

To paraphrase Krusty the Clown, comedy isn’t dirty words—it’s words that sound dirty. Here are 50 of them.

The origins and history of the word ‘cakewalk’ may make you want to reconsider using it.

From ‘cakewalk’ to ‘no can do,’ the origins of these common idioms and sayings are surprisingly dark.

Technically this exact phrasing wasn't in play until the 20th century.

Many bad words come and go, but these six have withstood the tests of time. Here’s how they came to be.

‘Of course’ is one of the most versatile ‘yes’ synonyms we have. But what does it actually mean?

This kitten is experiencing awe in the traditional sense of the word.

Sometimes words move up in the world. Their meanings change with time, becoming more positive—a process linguists call amelioration.

Where does this literary device come from, and why is it named after a fish?

The figurative phrase is more than 200 years old, but the obscure etymology of a 'red herring' is a fishy story that is itself a red herring.

Ever wonder what you're supposed to be minding when your mind your p's and q's?

Does it have to do with pea coats? Or maybe Latin scribes?

Here’s (at least) one interesting way station each of these common words made on its journey to the present day, whether it’s an analysis of the Latin roots, a hypothesis about a proto-Indo-European origin, or a pivotal change in meaning.

This isn't as tough as the whole chicken-and-egg conundrum.

The story behind which orange came first involves Arab trade routes and a bunch of old phrases that mean 'orange apple.'

When you're shopping at a flea market, have you ever stopped to wonder how it came by that name?

It’s another in a long line of etymologies that doesn’t have one clear-cut answer, but a few plausible (and interesting) possible explanations.

It’s delightfully old-timey slang we still use today. But does it have anything to do with the Duesenberg cars of the 1920s?

Movie-goers prepare to be entertained in 1935.

The origin of the phrase ‘silver screen’ is less about movies and more about how people watched them in the good old days.

‘Spick’ doesn’t mean ‘clean.’ And ‘span’ doesn’t mean ‘clean.’ So what’s going on here?

EvgeniyShkolenko/iStock via Getty Images

The tongue-in-cheek—and superstitious—saying "break a leg" has several possible origins in the theater world.

Whoever started 'from scratch’ didn’t actually do it in the kitchen—and ‘scratch’ has nothing to do with clawing ingredients together with your bare hands.

Kindergarten survived some early controversy to become part of the American education system.

This very German word became embedded in the American vernacular—but not before German politicians tried to ban kindergarten entirely.

A 19th-century illustration of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island. Or are they emigrants?

Understanding the difference between ‘immigrate’ and ‘emigrate’ requires a fun little dive into the world of Latin prefixes.

A promising young restaurateur, ready to be called a restauranteur for the rest of her career.

If you’ve been spelling ‘restaurateur’ with an ‘n’ for your entire life, don't feel bad. But here’s why you’re wrong.

If they're not sitting at a desk all day, they might be a blue-collar worker.

White collar jobs are purportedly better paying and more respectable than blue collar jobs—here’s how that came to be.

A medical professional does the vaccination; your body does the immunization.

If we’re being pedantic here (and we are), ‘vaccination’ and ‘immunization’ shouldn't be used interchangeably.

This man does not appear to be occupying a wagon.

'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.

20 Fall Harvest Words and Their Origins

50 Words That Sound Dirty But Actually Aren’t

The Racist Origins of 7 Common Phrases

The Origins of 6 Classic Curse Words

Why Does ‘Of Course’ Mean ‘Yes’?

19 Words That Used to Mean Something Negative

Where Did the Phrase 'Red Herring' Come From?

What Exactly Are Your P’s and Q’s?

The Interesting Etymologies of 71 Everyday Words

What Came First: The Color Orange or the Fruit?

Why Are Flea Markets Called That?

What Exactly Is a ‘Real Doozy’?

Why Do We Refer to Movies as “The Silver Screen”?

Why Does ‘Spick-and-Span’ Mean ‘Really Clean’?

Why Do Performers Say 'Break a Leg'?

What’s the Scratch in Made From Scratch?

Why Do We Call Kindergarten Kindergarten?

Immigrate vs. Emigrate: What’s the Difference?

Why Is There No N in Restaurateur?

Blue Collar vs. White Collar Jobs: What’s the Difference?

Vaccination vs. Immunization vs. Inoculation: What's the Difference?

Where Did the Phrase 'Fall Off the Wagon' Originate?

The Unappetizing Origins of 'The Proof Is in the Pudding'

Where Did the Term Lame Duck Originate?