More Financial Words With Surprising Origins

by Kevin Burton    Some of the words we use to discuss finances didn’t start as money words, as we learned Wednesday, from a list from Merriam-Webster dictionary.    We continue the theme today with a colorful phrase from the world of poker: Blue-chip    Blue-chip, meaning “a stock issue of high investment quality that …

Financial Words With Surprising Origins

by Kevin Burton    Tax day is not our favorite day. But we mark it today with a list of financial words from Merriam-Webster. Capital    The first known use of the word capital is in early Middle English, in which it was used as an adjective meaning “of or relating to the head.” It …

Complicated Lingo Of Science Made Easy

by Dictionary Scoop    Give it a bit of time, and even the tiniest, most obscure corner of human knowledge will develop its own terminology.    And the biggest generator of a specific lexicon in the world is science. Stepping into the realm of scientific discovery, we encounter a captivating linguistic landscape adorned with unusual …

Latin, Like Ancient Rome, Never Gets Old

by Merriam-Webster Dictionary    Over the centuries, certain Latin phrases have been used widely enough in English to get included in the dictionary. This list contains some of our favorites: In Vino Veritas Definition – “there is truth in wine”:    The classy thing to say when you’ve had too much to drink and have just …

Subjects No Longer Taught (Much) In Schools

by interestingfacts.com    Think back to your school days: Are you nostalgic for flipping through a dusty library card catalog or clacking away on a typewriter?    Some subjects you remember from those days are probably things of the past, although the finer points of how schools have changed might surprise you. These six subjects …

Syracuse Turns Its Back On The Disabled

by Stephen Kuusisto     (Nationally-known poet and disability advocate Stephen Kuusisto writes the “Planet of the Blind” blog on WordPress. The following is from his posts of  Nov. 28 and Dec. 2.)    When Helen Keller attended Radcliffe she observed that the experience was a “largely lonely triumph” and described how she was ignored by …

Thinking Deeply With Merriam-Webster

by Kevin Burton    My friend and co-worker on my college newspaper Tim, once suggested that thinking become a new sport.  That’s something that should really be pursued.       In this thinksport, there should be a penalty for speaking without thinking.    Maybe I’ll continue this thought later. For now, I want to share …

Words For Real Life Or For Scrabble

by Kevin Burton      “Scrabble” is not a German word meaning “one letter off,” that’s just my little joke.    Scrabble also at its essence is not a word game as commonly supposed, but a game of mathematics and strategic placement of little tile soldiers.    For the words used in scrabble aren’t words so …