explore | Grilled Cheese

"Words the Weather Gave Us" is coming next month (eek!). A feast of unusual words, weather lore, and historic weather straight from my desk to yours. If you want to be the first to read it, then check out the pre-order for the Kindle edition at www.amazon.com/dp/B0HJHVHC5... #etymology #booksky 📚💙🌦️☔

For all the details on how these words came to be, check out this (free) issue of the Linguistic Discovery newsletter:

open.substack.com/pub/linguist...

#etymology #linguistics #Latin #language #numbers

Achluophobia - Fear of the dark. From the Ancient Greek words achlys (meaning "mist," "darkness," or "obscurity") and phobos (meaning "fear"). #phobia #Halloween #grammar #grammardiva #wordoftheday #etymology

旧々国象战斗先进 #etymology #metroidvania

A wardrobe staple named after an Italian port city, hiding in plain sight.

jeans · Italian → French → English

#etymology #wordoftheday

Wordle 1,930 4/6

⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 1920s.

Lawyers for hotel chain asked that this word be deleted from the dictionary.

#Etymology

Random thought:
A female werewolf would be a wifwolf.

#etymology #randomthoughts

Several idioms encourage us to be “nice,” including the adage “it’s nice to be important, but more important to be nice.” But “being nice” wasn’t always seen as a virtue.

So what did it originally mean? And when did its meaning change?

Find out: tinyurl.com/3x3ba8bp

#wordoftheday #etymology

Broadway / off-Broadway / off-off-Broadway / Obie

#etymology #language #wordorigins

Optophobia - An intense and irrational fear of opening one's eyes. From the Greek root opt (meaning eyes) and phobia (meaning fear). #grammar #grammardiva #etymology #phobia #wordoftheday

The world's favorite tomato sauce started out as a fish sauce from Southeast Asia, and didn't have a single tomato in sight.

ketchup · Hokkien → Malay → English

#etymology #wordoftheday

Wordle 1,929 5/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩Anglo French word, from Latin, replacing its Old English alternative.

#etymology

🔔 Today's Foreign Five is Cast in Bronze: a London landmark with a famous nickname, a thousand-year Italian bell foundry, and Japan's New Year's Eve temple strikes.
Today's Foreign Trivia #124: Cast in Bronze. Five questions, five languages, no account needed.
#Bells #BigBen #Japan #Etymology

Annie's Origin of Words and Phrases
"His Name is Mud"
#etymology, #wordorigins, #linguistics, #languagehistory, #wordnerd

Okay #GardenSky it’s time to

Name! That! Bug!

Until today, the weirdest thing i had unexpectedly encountered here was a nest of mole crickets. Today we may have a new bar. (Why do i feel like they’re watching me?)
#Invertebrates
#Etymology

wordsgetaround.substack.com/p/gin-and-a-... This week's Substack looks at gin and its redemption. #gin #etymology #appliedlinguistics