[‘ That stimulates appetite for food; of or relating to the stimulation of appetite for food.'] Pronunciation: Brit. /ɒrɛksᵻˈdʒɛnɪk/, U.S. /ɔˌrɛksəˈdʒɛnɪk/ Etymology: < ancient Greek /ὄρεξις/ orexis n. + -genic comb. form.  /Med./ and Physiol.  That stimulates appetite for food; of or relating to the stimulation of appetite for food. 1907 /Amer. Jrnl. Clin. Med./ 1252/1 Then, too, we get an orexigenic and stomachic action which is not to be lightly esteemed, for it augments oxidation and metabolism.

Read more

I have noticed for the past several days that my daughter, while struggling with her seat belt, will call to me, “I’m helping!” The tone in her voice is clearly one of need. Her obvious meaning is, “I need help,” but my psycholinguistic sleuthing was fired up by the question of how she had come to mistake the progressive “-ing” with the meaning “need.” But today, as breakfast approached, the clues began to come together.

Read more

[‘ A person who begins to learn or study late in life.'] Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈɒpsᵻmaθ/, U.S. /ˈɑpsəˌmæθ/ Etymology: < ancient Greek /ὀψιμαθής/ late in learning ( < /ὀψι-, combining form of /ὀψέ (adverb) late (cognate with ὀπι- (see opistho- comb. form) and classical Latin /ob/: see ob- prefix) + μάθη learning ( < the base of μανθάνειν to learn: see mathematics n.)), after philomath n., polymath n. Compare earlier opsimathy n.

Read more

Rhett and Link invent a game where Rhett must guess down a list of words as to which ones are genuine vintage curse-words from days gone by, and which ones came from Link’s zany mind. The results are hilarious and informative. I particularly like “Snoob.” The end is so RHETT – but you don’t know whether or not that’s a good thing until you see whether or not he is successful.

Read more

Turns out Explosm comics isn’t family-friendly, but this tongue twister is priceless!

Read more

This NPR article follows research from a professor who analyzed the language of speed daters and found some patterns in those who followed up on dates with each other, and those who still dated each other three months later: those who felt a connection were those whose language displayed similar use of pronouns and particles (the linguistic “closed” class of vocabulary) as opposed to substance words (about jobs, entertainment, etc). The take-home here is NOT that you should look for a partner who talks like you do; rather, those who can do well together are those whose language-use subtly shifts to accommodate each other.

Read more

qui vive, n. [‘ on (also upon) the qui vive: on the alert; on the lookout.'] Pronunciation: Brit. /ˌkiː ˈviːv/, U.S. /ˌki ˈviv/ Forms: 17– *qui vive*, 19– *key veev* /Irish English/. Etymology: < French /qui vive/, qui-vive, noun (1626) < /qui vive?/, lit. ‘who should live?', i.e. ‘(long) live who?’ (1470 in Middle French) a sentinel’s challenge, intended to discover to which party the person challenged belongs (with an expected answer of the form vive le roi (long) live the king, vive la France (long) live France, etc.

Read more

In an Alternate Reality game a friend’s work gives a job-related title to each worker. Maybe it’s the linguist in me, but this one made my entire day. Cruciverbalist: someone who likes/makes word games, particularly cross-word puzzles. Add this to your list of most impressive-sounding terms no-one knows. Or to your resumé.

Read more

otalgia, n. [‘ Pain in the ear; earache.'] Pronunciation: Brit. /əʊˈtaldʒ(ɪ)ə/, U.S. /oʊˈtældʒə/ Etymology: < post-classical Latin /otalgia/ earache (a/1549 in Paracelsus) < Hellenistic Greek /ὠταλγία < ancient Greek /ὠτο-* oto- comb. form + /-αλγία/ -algia comb. form. Compare Middle French, French /otalgie* (1578).  /Med./  Pain in the ear; earache. 1657 /Physical Dict./, /Otalgia/, pain in the ears. 1728 E. Chambers /Cycl./ (at cited word), The Otalgia usually arises from an Inflammation.

Read more

A fine article on petrichor, the glorious smell of rain (and where it comes from). To think—if the world were all sanitized, we would never enjoy petrichor. Life isn’t made for sanitation.

Read more