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May 2005Word History of the Month: filibusterThe word filibuster has been part of English since the mid-19th century, but it has taken some odd twists and turns getting here. Get the full story. October 2005Word Histories of the Month: diaspora and exodusAmong the many differences between Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we noted this: the dispersal of Katrina survivors was dubbed a diaspora, while folks fleeing Rita were considered part of an exodus. Diaspora and exodus are both Greek terms born in biblical times, and this month we look into their stories, drawn from entries in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. November 2005Word History of the Month: Jim CrowThe passing of Rosa Parks on October 24 brought the phrase Jim Crow back into many people’s conversation. For those who wondered about the origins of this term, here's the story. January 2006Word History of the Month: agnosticReligion was much discussed last month, which may have been what brought the word agnostic to the No. 12 spot on December’s Top Twenty. The story behind that term for a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (such as God) is unknown and probably unknowable is unusual, if not unknowable. April 2006Word History of the Month: vendettaLast month's theatrical release of V for Vendetta sent folks to the dictionary and pushed the word vendetta into the list of top 100 looked-up words. What's the history of vendetta? Click here to find out. September 2006Word History of the Month: fascist and fascismWhen President Bush used the word fascist to describe the recent terrorist plots, the word and the related word fascism immediately became among the most looked-up words on the Merriam-Webster Web site. We'll stay away from any political debate about these words, but we'll gladly get into the history of the words. November 2006Word History of the Month: PilgrimAmericans associate Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims, but that name was not applied to the Puritans (by Governor William Bradford) until 1630, nine years after the first Thanksgiving. Back in 1620, when the Mayflower crossed the Atlantic, its passengers referred to themselves as Puritans. Puritan has its origin in the Latin word for purity, a reflection of the religious group's intent to purify the Church of England. So where does Pilgrim come from? Travel with us to find out. January 2007Word History of the Month: GoogolNow that the trademarked Google search engine has given us the lowercase verb to google, and that word has entered the Collegiate Dictionary, you might want to hear the tale of the original googol. No searching is necessary; we have it right here. February 2007Word History of the Month: epiphanyEpiphany is always a frequently looked-up word, but it placed particularly high this month. We guess that the religious Feast of the Epiphany on January 6 had something to do with that, so this month we'll tell the story. May 2007Word History of the Month: diatribe, charlatanLast month, folks turned to the dictionary to help make sense of the tragedy at Virginia Tech. Frequent appearances in news reports earned charlatan and diatribe spots on the list of frequently looked-up words. It's unfortunate to be meeting these words under these circumstances, but their stories are interesting. June 2007Word History of the Month: sardoodledomLast month's Scripps National Spelling Bee (the 80th) had plenty of tense moments, but it also had its share of laughs. One of the more humorous moments started with a fit of giggles from the 11-year-old contestant charged with spelling sardoodledom. The crowd laughed too and then cheered when he finally, and correctly, spelled the word. As you might expect, there is a story behind this word. September 2007Word History of the Month: quixoticWe're not sure why the word quixotic has been exciting so much interest. It may have got something to do with Congressman Duncan Hunter, whose presidential campaign is often characterized as quixotic. But we do know quixotic has been part of the language for nearly three centuries, and we know its novel beginning and its quirky pronunciation. October 2007Word History of the Month: juntaThe pro-democracy uprising by Buddhist monks in Myanmar (the country formerly known as Burma) against that country's ruling military junta helped boost junta onto the list of "most-looked-up words" for a few days near the end of last month. Junta has a variety of pronunciations and a straightforward history. November 2007Word History of the Month: didacticThe word didactic made its first appearance (at #16) on the Top Twenty list this month. As you might expect from a word whose Greek ancestors meant "apt at teaching" and "able to be taught," the story of didactic can teach word lovers a thing or two. February 2008Word History of the Month: LentVarious Christian religions began marking Lent — 40 weekdays of penitence and fasting — on Ash Wednesday, February 6. Curious about the origin of the name of the religious season? March 2008Word History of the Month: IdesThanks to William Shakespeare, generations have remembered the soothsayer's warning to Julius Caesar: "Beware the Ides of March!" We'd guess that few of us moderns recall precisely what the Ides are, however. April 2008Word History of the Month: tawdryL'Affaire Spitzer inspired many commentators to pull out the term tawdry. That sent plenty of folks to the dictionary definition of that ignoble term with a noble history. |