Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump / Wikimedia Commons
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Category Archives: Words, phrases & expressions
A good wallop
Middle & Over Wallop, Glyndebourne
If you’ve ever been to the opera at Glyndebourne, deep in England’s green and pretty Sussex countryside, you might have eaten in Middle & Over Wallop or Nether Wallop. If you’re like me, the names of those distinctive dining rooms might conjure up images of saucy spankings, or at least a punch below the belt, perhaps somewhere in England’s green and pleasant lands. But we might be wrong in thinking there was any sort of thrashing going on in the history of these eatery names. Continue reading
The language of sex: come one, come all (come v cum)
Update: The censored cake … With the word “cum” back in the news today, Glossophilia is happy to republish one of its most popular posts.
The censored cake / Facebook
* * Warning: contains strong language * * Language advisory: viewer discretion is advised * *
“GIGO”
My friend Loretta and I were recently discussing a movie we’d just seen. Struggling to find a way to describe and explain the main character’s gloomy revolving door of unsuitable lovers and why Isabelle was unable to find herself a lasting, fulfilling relationship, Loretta shrugged her shoulders and raised her palms to the ceiling: “I guess it’s a case of GIGO. … Continue reading
Ha-ha
Ha-ha protecting the lawn at Hopetoun House, West Lothian, Scotland / Wikimedia Commons
Ha-ha. I’ve just found out the meaning of this old English noun, after reading it in a book written in 1953.
In the news: Just deserts – a sweet gaffe?
I guess we all learned something new yesterday, thanks to a certain headline … Continue reading
The many names of Elizabeth Windsor
In honor of Elizabeth Windsor’s 92nd birthday (it’s her real birthday today), Glossophilia is re-posting this piece about her name. Happy Birthday Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor!
It’s Friday 13th: a day for paraskevidekatriaphobia, friggatriskaidekaphobia or triskaidekaphobia
Reposting this, on this auspicious day …
It’s Friday 13th, and for some people that’s a day when their triskaidekaphobia kicks in big time. Triskaidekaphobia? It means “fear of the number 13”. Also sometimes spelled triskaidecaphobia, it’s a slightly strange word deriving from two different languages: it combines the Greek treiskaideka (“thirteen”) with the Latin word for “fear of”, phobia. The first known written citation is in a book by Isador Coriat, Religion and Medicine: the Moral Control of Nervous Disorders, published in 1908, so this superstition linked to the number 13 is probably quite a recent phenomenon. But is there also a word for the fear of the date itself? Continue reading
In the news: a linguistic Brexit? (“French leave”)
Exactly a year after the historic Brexit referendum, a British MP looks likely to achieve her goal of seeing another major change in citizenship in Europe — in a popular English expression. A bill has been steered through Parliament by the Conservative MP for Anglebury, Avril Berner, who has called for the expression “French leave” — meaning “absence from work or duty without permission” (OED) — to be changed to “English leave” in dictionaries and school textbooks throughout the UK. In a four-page document, which was reported by Parliament Today to have reached Buckingham Palace for the Queen’s signature on Thursday, the anniversary of the landmark 2017 vote, Berner argued that the word French has no business holding its place in standard British English, especially as the island nation continues to negotiate its economic and legal separation from the European mainland. Interestingly, the French equivalent for the phrase is “filer a l’anglaise” — meaning literally “to leave English-style”. The nearly 250-year-old phrase “French leave” is first recorded in 1771.
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Other English terms that contain the names of European nationalities are:
- Spanish fly: an aphrodisiac, made from the dried blood of Spanish beetles
- Dutch cap: a contraceptive diaphragm
- French letter: another contraceptive, a condom
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Celebrating seven on Glosso’s seventh birthday
It’s the number of wonders in the world; for many, it’s the number of perfection, security, safety and rest. It’s the number of colors in a rainbow and of days in a week; of notes in a scale, and of dwarfs in Snow White’s entourage.
Here, on Glosso’s seventh birthday, are seven phrases or proverbs that include the word seven — plus one for luck.
- Seven-day wonder: A person or thing that generates interest for only a short amount of time.
- At sixes and sevens: Frazzled or disorganized. Probably originated from a dice game in which rolling a six or seven was unfavorable.
- Seven-year itch: A supposed tendency to infidelity after seven years of marriage.
- In seventh heaven: In a state of ecstasy.
- Seven-league boots: The ability to travel very fast on foot. This phrase comes from the fairy-tale Hop o’ My Thumb (or Little Thumbling), in which magic boots enable the wearer to travel seven leagues in each stride.
- “Keep a thing seven years and you’ll (always) find a use for it“
- “You should know a man seven years before you stir his fire“
And the last one for luck:
Twenty-four seven: All day every day …
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