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todayilearned

Jun 24, 2020

TIL that the verb 'egg' (i.e. egged on, to incite into action) has been in the English language longer than the noun 'egg'.

egg egg on english english language etymology expression grammar language linguistics phrase origin usage word origin writing

todayilearned

Apr 08, 2020

TIL A SYNANAGRAM is a word whose letters can be rearranged to form a different word with the same meaning—like ‘angered’ and ‘enraged’. ‘Twelve plus one’ is an anagram of ‘eleven plus two.’ and both add up to 13!

aphercotropism etymology language facts origins strange weird words word origins

todayilearned

Mar 26, 2020

TIL that the saying “put a sock in it” is believed to come from the early 20th century, when people would stuff socks into their gramophones (a device for recording, reproduction and sound), to make it quiet, because the gramophones did not have volume controls.

english language etymology put a sock in it words world wide words

todayilearned

Jan 27, 2020

TIL one of the meanings of the early American word "Huckleberry" was that someone was the right person for the job. When Doc Holliday says, "I'm your huckleberry" in the movie Tombstone, Doc is saying he's the man to fight the villain.

english language etymology huckleberry words world wide words

todayilearned

Nov 07, 2019

TIL that the fruit, orange, was named before the color, which was commonly referred to as “yellow-red.” Hence why people with orange hair are called “redheads” and not “orangeheads.”

big questions etymology food history language linguistics origins top-story words

todayilearned

Aug 17, 2019

TIL In the Middle Ages the word "poop" meant to blast a horn. By the 1600s it was slang for farting.

english english language etymology expression grammar language linguistics phrase origin poop poop deck pooped pooped out usage word origin writing

todayilearned

Aug 13, 2019

TIL we call people with red hair "red heads" as opposed to "orange heads" because the phrase has been around longer than the colour orange. The colour orange was described as red up until the 1500's when the first reference of orange in the English language can be found.

big questions etymology food history language linguistics origins top-story words

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