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Privates Surprise
Go back far enough, and the word private traces its way back to Latin, where privus meant something like of one’s own. A homo privus was a person who…
Nov 4
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Andrew Smith
8
3
Appetite for Deduction
Deduce this with me, if you dare.
Oct 28
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Andrew Smith
8
4
Whoa and Woah
Whoa whoa whoa, you’re thinking.
Oct 21
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Andrew Smith
16
19
Butt Load
Buttload (or butt load) sounds like it’s a perverse version of boatload, right?
Oct 19
•
Andrew Smith
17
5
You're Welcome
Say thank you to someone who speaks anything other than English, and you’re likely to get a wide range of responses.
Oct 14
•
Andrew Smith
15
8
Deranged Words
If I told you someone was deranged, you’d probably come up with a fairly specific mental image.
Oct 8
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Andrew Smith
12
3
How Very
Very few words are as common or old as very.
Oct 6
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Andrew Smith
13
10
The Final Frontier
The word frontier in the medieval European world described the narrow border region between two rival territories.
Oct 5
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Andrew Smith
13
7
Corporations
Corporations are people.
Oct 3
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Andrew Smith
12
16
“Switzerland”
I’m a Switzer!
Oct 2
•
Andrew Smith
14
20
Shrinks and Shrinkers
The word shrink has a neat etymology.
Sep 27
•
Andrew Smith
7
4
Riding Shotgun
One thing that all the kids I knew did was to call shotgun every time we went anywhere.
Sep 26
•
Andrew Smith
11
21
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