Mensch came to English from Yiddish in the 20th century. The Yiddish word comes from a Middle High German word for person, but in Yiddish and English usage, it refers to a decent, admirable person with many good qualities. Like many words from Yiddish, mensch is a welcome addition to the language because there is no exact English one-word equivalent. Read full post →
Honor is the American spelling of the word meaning, among other things, (1) great respect or recognition, and (2) to show respect for. Honour is the preferred spelling outside the U.S. Read full post →
To band together is to form a group or to cooperate. To bandy something about is to toss it around, literally or figuratively. Bandy’s exact origins are unknown, but it was originally used in tennis and similar sports, where to bandy a ball about is to hit it back and forth. Read full post →
One definition of bit is a metal mouthpiece used for controlling a horse, and one definition of champ is to bite or chew noisily. These are the senses meant in the idiom champing at the bit, which refers to the tendency of some horses to chew on the bit when impatient or eager. In its figurative sense, it means to show impatience while delayed, or just to be eager to start. Read full post →
The traditional definitions of upshot are (1) an outcome, (2) a conclusion, and (3) a central idea. The word came from the sport of archery, where it once referred to the final shot in a match. Today, however, the word is often used to mean advantage or benefit. This probably came about due to upshot’s similarity in sound to upside, one of whose definitions is an advantageous aspect. Read full post →
Nimby began as an acronym for not in my backyard. It came about in the 1980s as a term for people who object to having things in their own neighborhoods but don’t necessarily object to those things elsewhere. For example, if you welcome the idea of a new airport for your city but would resist its being built near your home, you might be called a nimby. The term is usually pejorative, however, and few people would apply it to themselves. People tend to frame their complaints in terms that hide their nimbyism. Read full post →
The use of kudos in English began in the early 19th century. Borrowed from ancient Greek, the English word was originally British university slang for praise or renown. Like similar Greek-derived words ending in –os—for example, pathos and chaos—kudos is a singular mass noun. Yet because it sounds plural, many writers treat it as such. Read full post →
No one knows the exact origins of buck naked, meaning completely naked, but the American Heritage Dictionary says it’s from the U.S. South. The earliest example we can find in historical Google News searches (which of course are very limited) is from 1915, and the term gradually becomes more common as the century progresses. Read full post →
When the verb cost means to be priced at or to cause loss or expenditure, it is uninflected in its past and perfect tenses. But when cost means determine the cost of or set the cost of, it becomes costed in the past and perfect tenses. Read full post →
Electrical, electric, and electronic share much common ground, and they are interchangeable in many uses, but it’s possible to sketch rough differences between them. Read full post →
Klutz, a noun, came to English from Yiddish in the late 20th century, and it has origins in the German klotz, which means a wooden block. In English, it means (1) a foolishly clumsy person, or (2) a stupid person, especially one who is socially inept. The word is more often used in the first sense. Read full post →
Checkout is a noun and an adjective. The corresponding verb is two words—check out. So, for example, when you are ready to check out at the grocery store, you wait in the checkout line. Or when you want to check out of your hotel after the standard time, you might ask for a late checkout. Read full post →
Irregardless is a century-old colloquial word that means the same as irrespective and regardless, and it may have come about by some fusion or confusion of those two words. The use of irregardless is a common peeve among people who question illogical new words and phrases in English, but the word is not as bad as many people think. Read full post →
In American English, the inflected forms of travel take one l—so, traveled, traveling, traveler, etc. In varieties of English from outside the U.S., these forms take two l’s—travelled, travelling, traveller, etc. Read full post →