etymology
Written by: Nur Ibrahim
June 5, 2025
This meme is incorrect, i.e., it is false.
Written by: Madison Dapcevich
March 16, 2025
The terms date back to the 18th-century printing trade.
Written by: Alex Kasprak
Feb. 24, 2025
Social media users claimed that the word "freelance" comes from a term for a mercenary warrior. ...
Written by: Joey Esposito
Jan. 1, 2025
Despite allegations that the phrase once ended with "in matters of taste," we found no evidence ...
Written by: David Emery
Sept. 3, 2024
Tag is one of the oldest, most commonly played children's games in existence.
Written by: Caroline Wazer
Aug. 18, 2024
The claim appeared in numerous posts made in English, French, Swahili, and other languages.
Written by: Aleksandra Wrona
July 23, 2024
For years, people believed the term meant "wireless fidelity."
Written by: Anna Rascouët-Paz
June 8, 2024
People on the internet seem baffled that we can't identify who named our own planet.
Written by: Anna Rascouët-Paz
May 6, 2024
California's queen was named Calafia, according to some claims.
Written by: Aleksandra Wrona
March 29, 2024
"Using Google Translate" and "seeing for yourself" only works in cases like this if you also hav ...
Written by: Nur Ibrahim
Feb. 23, 2024
The claim is tipsy, to say the least.
Written by: Taija PerryCook
Feb. 2, 2024
Gaza was once a prosperous harbor known for textile production, a key stop along the trade route ...
Written by: Shannon Sanford
Jan. 24, 2024
As it turns out, people have a propensity to make false claims about word origins.
Written by: Shannon Sanford
Jan. 16, 2024
Word origins (etymology) is every bit the serious academic discipline you might expect it to be ...
Written by: Alex Kasprak
Dec. 23, 2022
The word has been in circulation since 1894.
Written by: Nur Ibrahim
April 20, 2023
The golliwog made headlines in April 2023 after an Essex property owner displayed the dolls at h ...
Written by: Barbara Mikkelson
Sept. 13, 2002
The story of how the code '420' entered drug parlance as a term signifying the time to light up ...
Written by: Izz Scott LaMagdeleine
Feb. 11, 2023
The earliest known usage of the term comes from a diary entry about a widow.
Written by: David Mikkelson
March 25, 2001
Here's the etymology of “buck” to mean “dollar."
Written by: Barbara Mikkelson David Mikkelson
June 1, 2013
Here's our two cents on why people use the phrase, and what some people believe are its origins.
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