Charlotte from Princeton, Kentucky, wonders: What’s the difference between a spider web and a cobweb? There’s a bit of semantic differentiation between the two: A cobweb is usually an old spider web, while a spider web that’s not old may still have a tenant. The cob- in cobweb comes from Old English coppe, which means “spider” and comes from an old root that means “head,” because a spider looks like little more than a head. In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit (Bookshop|Amazon) Bilbo Baggins tries to distract some spiders by singing a song with the lines “Attercop! Attercop! Down you drop!” The -cop in attercop comes from the same root as the cob- in cobweb. This is part of a complete episode.
What makes a great first line of a book? How do the best authors put together an initial sentence that draws you in and makes you want to read more? We’re talking about the openings of such novels as George Orwell’s 1984...
To slip someone a mickey means to doctor a drink and give it to an unwitting recipient. The phrase goes back to Mickey Finn of the Lone Star Saloon in Chicago, who in the late 19th century was notorious for drugging certain customers and relieving...
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