What is the origin of the word flabbergasted? The –gasted in flabbergasted probably relates to aghast, as in “astonished” or “horrified,” but the source of the flabber- is unclear. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “The...
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Although there are many proposed etymologies for the word copacetic, the truth is no one knows the origin of this word meaning “fine” or “extremely satisfactory.” This is part of a...
Drupe means a fleshy fruit built around a hard pit, such as a peach or cherry. A drupelet is one of the tiny seeded units that cluster into fruits like raspberries and blackberries. Those bead-like drupelets reminded professional namers of a...
Jay in Fort Worth, Texas, grew up in Wisconsin hearing kibosh as KIB-bosh, not the more common KYE-bosh. To put the kibosh—also spelled kybosh—on something is to stop it decisively and fast; the word has also been used as a verb and even an...
Dude, how’d we ever start using the word dude? The Big Grantbowski traces the word’s origin—it’s over 125 years old. Here’s a poem about dandy dudes from 1883, the year the word zoomed into common use. Ben Zimmer at Visual...