Common Words With Uncommon Histories

by Dictionary Scoop    Most words we use in everyday life have interesting stories to tell. Behind the facade of triviality, the history of whole languages (and the people who spoke those languages) unfolds like a rich tapestry of meaning and social threads.    English is a language with a long history, and over the …

Common Words Borrowed From Arabic

by Kevin Burton     Have there been more impassioned articles written about the evil of alcohol or the evil of algebra?    Who can tell really? But these twin menaces are linked in today’s word list from Merriam-Webster, words borrowed by English from Arabic: Algebra    Anyone who has unpleasant memories of slogging through this …