ArcaMax

As the spring semester ends, many teachers are frantically rushing through the curriculum as if they were driving little chariots at breakneck speed. That's apt, because the word "curriculum" derives from the Latin word for a small chariot.

The Romans called a full-sized chariot a "currus," from "currere," the Latin verb meaning "to run." "...Read more

Is there any "money" in alimony? Anything "holy" about "halo"? And why do we say a gun has been fired "point-blank"?

Despite those fat monthly checks doled out to the ex-wives of tech company moguls, there's no money in the word "alimony."

"Alimony" derives from the Latin "alimonia," sustenance, which comes from the Latin verb "alere," to ...Read more

Call it the British Invasion. No, it's not the war that started 250 years ago. It's the current all-out assault on the U.S. by British terms and expressions.

American executives, for instance, have adopted the Britishism "take a decision" for "make a decision." Likewise, it's now so "veddy" British among the limey-loving set to speak of "...Read more

Dear Word Guy,

I have a lot of time on my hands now, what with being expelled from the U.S. Congress and all, so I've had time to ponder several important questions: Are criminal penalties tax deductible? Is it wrong to while away the hours binge watching "The Decameron" on Netflix? Or should that be "wile away the hours"? -- George S.

Dear ...Read more

The Word Guy Blooper Patrol has plucked the ripest, juiciest mistakes from newspapers and magazines. Can you find the lemons?

1. "Palettes of new furniture were hoisted off trucks." Colorful items, no doubt. 2. "...the biggest selection of fabrics available for dying" Are they funeral shrouds? 3. "...more than 75 chandeliers and scones." ...Read more

F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," published 100 years ago this month, endures as a cherished novel in many of our hearts. As I note in my new book, "Gatsby's Secrets," the novel derives much of its power and charm from what Raymond Chandler called "the subdued magic" of its prose.

Fitzgerald's sentences float through the book like the...Read more

Q: Are there any other words besides "facetious" that contain all the vowels in alphabetical order? -- Mary Lundquist, Bristol, Connecticut

A: You (alpha)bet!

As Richard Lederer notes in his rollicking book "The Word Circus," "facetious" is the shortest English word with all five vowels in alphabetical order.

But he lists 17 others, ranging...Read more

A reader from Rocky Hill, Connecticut, writes with a question about road signs that read "Blind Driveway." She writes: "Drivers might be blinded from not being able to see a driveway because of trees or other objects, but the driveways are not blind. How can an inanimate object be blind?!"

First, an aside on signs: One thing I've always liked...Read more

During my college years, I alleviated the tedium of a summer job flipping burgers by concocting word games to entertain customers (mostly kids) and employees (mostly myself).

One day I decided to invent a new word ... well, actually, a new definition of an existing word -- "whip." From now on, I decreed, "whip" would mean "cool, awesome, ...Read more

Have you ever wondered how Protestant denominations acquired their names? I'll tell you anyway.

As a little boy growing up in Armonk, New York, I attended what I then called the "Epissabull" church, little knowing that "Episcopal" comes from the Late Latin "episcopus" (bishop) or that those baskets they passed around were for putting money ...Read more

If you've ever been "on the spot" in a "kangaroo court," I'm glad you survived the ordeal to learn the origins of these two phrases:

-- on the spot: Inquisitors have used a variety of brutal tortures to elicit confessions from suspects -- the rack, the whip, crushing by stones, forced viewings of the movie "Ishtar."

By the time the 1800s ...Read more

A good friend of mine wonders about this sentence from a billing statement she received: "Beginning in April of 2025, your payment date will be moved forward from April 19 to April 26." She asks, "Shouldn't 'moved forward' be 'moved back'"?

(In raising this question, she perhaps becomes the first person in history to ever question a notice ...Read more

Today, we interview the coiners of two of our most overused cliches. Our first guest is Polly Anna Doubtful, creator of the expression "cautiously optimistic."

Q: How did this semi-oxymoronic phrase start?

A: Back in the early days of the automobile, I was working hard to invent the flashing yellow caution light. You know, the one that means...Read more