words

Ventriloquism

Ventriloquism was a word originally associated with possession by an evil spirit.

The word comes from the Latin ventriloquus, which is a compound of venter ‘stomach’ and loqui, ‘speak’.

It originally referred literally to the phenomenon of speaking from the stomach, particularly as a sign of demonic possession.

The word was linked to the trick of throwing [more…]

Zany

Do you know someone called John or Jack who you would describe as zany?

This word meaning bizarre, way out or wacky comes from the Italian form of John, Giovanni.

The name John and its European counterparts such as Jean and Giovanni were very popular, they came to be used to denote the common man. Jack [more…]