Atishoo
The sound of a sneeze has the onomatopoeic atishoo to describe it. This works well, and is further authenticated by the word’s similarity to ‘tissue’, a must-have for sneezers.
One theory links the origins of ‘atishoo’ to the Black Death.
The nursery rhyme, Ring a Ring o’Roses, is thought, by some, to have developed as a [more…]
Ammonia
This very down-to-earth word has a very lofty origin .
The supreme Egyptian god, Amen or Amon was Ammon to the Greeks.
He was worshipped at the temple of Jupiter Ammon situated at a Libyan oasis.
The dung and urine of camels that came to drink at the oasis, was collected and sal ammoniacus or ‘salt of [more…]
Canary
This sweet little songbird owes its name to a large breed of dog!
Stories that the group of volcanic islands to the north of Africa were inhabited by large dogs, led the Romans to call these islands Canariae Insulae or dog islands.
Canary became used as an adjective to describe exports form the islands, such as [more…]
Crisscross
The alphabet was known as Christ-cross-row because the row of letters was preceded by a character resembling a Maltese cross.
When an illiterate person was required to sign his name he would print the Christ-cross as his mark.
Eventually the first syllable was reduced and the word crisscross entered our language meaning to cross with lines. [more…]
Curry favour
Have you ever thought to curry favour with your boss? Did you think it had something to do with inviting her to share a spicy Indian meal?
You might be surprised to know it has more to do with grooming a chestnut horse!
The expression comes from the less commonly known meaning of curry – ‘to [more…]
Dressed to the nines
If you’re ‘dressed to the nines’ it doesn’t mean that you have nine layers of clothes on!
It actually means you are dressed very smartly or elaborately.
This phrase dates from the 18th century, and was already in use when Robert Burns used it in a poem in 1796, as ‘Twad please me to [more…]
Earwig
Reference to this insect dates back a thousand years.
The word is derived from the Old English colloquial term for insect, which was wicga.
Pronounced as ‘widger’, this word is thought to have come from the prehistoric Germanic base wig and is roughly equivalent in feeling to the term creepy-crawly.
Many folk used to believe that earwigs [more…]
Limerick
According to James A H Murray, founding editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, the word Limerick has long been associated with nonsense verse and the Irish custom of drinking and reciting poems.
This Irish pub ritual ended with the participants reciting the refrain ‘Will you go down to Limerick?’ Hence the name of these five [more…]
Colossus
Colossus is a popular large Lovatts crossword but where did the name come from?
In Ancient Greek the word was first used by the historian Herodotus as a name for certain gigantic statues in Egypt.
It became better known, of course, when applied to the Colossus of Rhodes, a 36 metre-high statue of Apollo that stood [more…]