Posts under ‘Words’

Mel and I were talking about the word “whippersnapper” the other day. She thought the term was “whimpersnapper,” which apparently is a common mistake. After getting her straightened out on that point, I was wondering what the origin of this word is. It seems natural that “whippersnapper” would be derived from “whipsnapper”, but it’s unclear [...]

Ok, this is something I probably should have been able to figure out without the help of the internets, but today, PBR said “niner,” and I started wondering why pilot types say nine that way. “Niner” is the pronunciation of nine in the unambiguous NATO phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc.). Other numbers with designations [...]

Everyone knows that soccer is football everywhere else in the world, but where did the word come from? It’s clearly not derived from “football.” According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, soccer was sometimes called association football to distinguish it from rugby football. The abbreviation “Assoc.” eventually transformed into “socca,” then “socker,” before “soccer” appeared in [...]

Moe just described Edna Krabappel’s hair as “gossamer.” Here’s the definition from dictionary.com: noun soft sheer gauzy fabric; something delicate, light, or flimsy. adjective sheer, light, delicate, or tenuous That’ll learn ya!

Most people think ‘trebuchet’ is only a font, and I was operating under the assumption that it was a word made up by Microsoft to describe something classic/old-worldy. However, it is a real word, as I discovered in Collapse. noun A medieval catapult for hurling heavy stones. For more info on these catapults, including plans [...]

We know what a Jim Dandy is and who Jim Dandy is. But where did the term come from? Etymology Online suggests that is could be derived from the 1840s song “Dandy Jim of Caroline,” written by Silas Sexton Steel. I’m not sure what ol’ Silas’ was known for back in the day, but google [...]

It’s time for me to talk a bit about one of the most ridiculous words on record. There has been quite a bit of confusion about whether it’s “pompom” or “pompon.” If you’re anything like me, you assumed this word was “pom-pom” or maybe “pompom,” but not “pom-pon” and definitely not “pompon.” Recently, I was [...]

In my current reading of The Power and the Glory, the word ‘darn’ came up outside of it’s usual usages as an interjection or substitute for damn, unless Miss Lehr has something against socks. In relation to clothing, ‘darn‘ has a different meaning: darn verb To mend (a garment, for example) by weaving thread or [...]

Here’s a word that Jim O’Donoghue used the other day, but neither his wife nor his son believed it was truly a word. Well chalk it up! Dictionary.com notes that it’s “chiefly British” and derived from Australian slang. wonky adjective 1. Shaky; feeble. 2. Wrong; awry.

I’ve been pretty lax about posting new words that I’ve found in my readings. Here’s an update: From Reading Lolita in Tehran: erudite (adj.) – Characterized by extensive reading or knowledge; well instructed; learned. banal (adj.) – Commonplace; trivial; hackneyed; trite. solipsism (n.) – Philosophical theory that the self is all that you know to [...]

We were at the College of Chemistry commencement last night, and one of the student speakers used the word “sagacity.” It was clearly a suggestion from the Microsoft Word thesaurus. Anyway, I thought I should look it up, although Odie knew the definition. noun The quality of being discerning, sound in judgment, and farsighted; wisdom.