autogestion n.— «The ideas of worker ownership and worker self-management (also known as autogestion) are hardly new or even unusual; there are hundreds of such places in Latin America, thousands across the world, and they even enjoyed...
Welcome to another newsletter from A Way with Words. Over the weekend we talked more about political language, "hair of the dog," "a fish rots from the head down," and "pareidolia." We also posted another language...
malus n.—Gloss: A penalty for poor performance, the opposite of a bonus. «A report by Frankfurt-based Center for Financial Studies has coined a new word—malus. Malus is Latin for “bad” while bonus means “good.” It...
To-ga! To-ga! To-ga! John Chaneski’s latest quiz, “Classics Class,” has the hosts rooting around for the ancient Greek and Latin origins of English words. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Classics Class...
Why do we call the fellow clearing the dishes and silverware a busboy? A Chicago listener isn’t satisfied with the answer, “Because he’s bussing the table.” Grant reveals the terms likely Latin roots. This is part of a...
You seem to hear it on all the television hospital dramas: “stat!” A physician says she knows it means “immediately,” but she doesn’t know its origins. Quick! Is there a Latin expert in the house? This is part of a...