Why do we say “bless you” after someone sneezes? Around the world, sneeze responses reveal a fascinating mix of superstition, politeness, health wishes, and language history.
“Achoo!” “Bless you!” This automatic response to a sneeze was likely ingrained in you as a child, but why do we call attention to this bodily function through a blessing? Several theories attempt to explain this time-honored custom, but the real answer is murky — and varies around the world.
Debunked Theories
One theory is that, in the Middle Ages, people thought a sneeze momentarily stopped the heart, so blessing someone would stimulate the heart to resume its essential pumping. Another is that medieval people believed a sneeze caused someone to expel their soul through their nose for the few seconds it would take the devil to snatch it, and blessing someone would protect the soul.
However, it has not been conclusively established that people in the Middle Ages actually believed a sneeze was an indication of either a heart stopping or a soul being snatched, so these theories may be fanciful.
Another theory based on Pope Gregory I has more historical weight, but it’s still unfounded. Here’s the story: During the Roman plague of 590 CE, Pope Gregory, also known as Gregory the Great, sought to use the intercession of prayer to prevent the spread of the bubonic plague in Rome, which caused rapid death. Centuries before the advent of antibiotics and modern germ theory, he urged the faithful to say “God bless you!” when someone sneezed — the first sign that someone might be catching this dreaded disease.
Now here’s the truth: Pope Gregory I did serve as pope during some of the Roman plague of 590. (He succeeded Pope Pelagius II, who died during the plague.) It’s true that he called for prayers in Rome in response to the plague, but there’s no evidence he ever used the expression “God bless you” in response to someone sneezing, or that he urged the people of Rome to do so.
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How Other Cultures Respond to Sneezes
So, why do we say “God bless you” (or simply “bless you”) when someone sneezes? (And why not when someone coughs, or hiccups, or has another bodily function?) The history remains unclear, but these days, saying that blessing when someone sneezes has no religious connotation and is merely a polite way to be supportive of someone who may be feeling or falling ill. You’re wishing them good health, with or without divine intervention.
This notion is backed up by some of the alternative exclamations in languages around the world. In ancient Rome, if someone sneezed, the appropriate response was the Latin Salve, meaning “be in good health.” Both Greeks and Romans viewed sneezes as significant omens from the gods. Sneezing to the right was considered lucky, while sneezing to the left was an omen of bad luck or doom.
A few modern languages likewise promote health in response to a sneeze. All of these responses translate to some variation of “health” or “be healthy”: Salute (Italian), Salud (Spanish), Saúde (Portuguese), Zay gezunt (Yiddish), Bood zdaróv (Russian), andSănătate (Romanian). And in Hawaiian, Ola means “live.”
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Then, of course, there’s the German Gesundheit. During a wave of German immigration to America, between 1840 and 1914, German-speaking people brought with them their customs and traditions, one of which was to say “Gesundheit”when someone sneezed. Doing so became popular among the masses, and though that popularity waned during World War II, “gesundheit” (Americanized as lowercase) had a resurgence thereafter.
Even native English speakers still commonly offer “gesundheit” — German for “health” — instead of “bless you.” It continues the trend of wishing good health to someone who has just sneezed, coming from gesund (“healthy”) and -heit, a suffix denoting a state of being.
Kangaroo and joey words are based on the idea that kangaroos carry young joeys around in their pouches. Let’s hop to explaining how this linguistic concept works.
To a linguist, kangaroo words and joey words have nothing to do with Aussie slang. Instead, they come from the idea that mother kangaroos carry their young joeys inside their pouches. In a similar vein, kangaroo words contain joey words within themselves. Here’s what we mean.
Kangaroo and joey words are always synonymous with one another, and the joey word is a shorter version of the longer kangaroo word. One example of a kangaroo word is “action,” as it contains the synonymous joey word “act.” Among many other examples: “discordance”/“discord,” “superb”/“super,” and “devilish”/“evil.”
But joey words don’t have to be written in a single block. The letters can be separated as long as they’re still written in order from left to right. “Charisma” is one example of this — we find the joey word “charm” by removing “is” and “a” from the kangaroo word. Other cases include “rotund”/“round,” “dismayed”/“sad,” and “observe”/“see.”
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There are also different forms of kangaroo words, including a concept known as twin kangaroo words. These contain two different joey words — for example, “community” contains both “county” and “city.” Similarly, “diminutive” has both “minute” and “mini,” and “deteriorate” contains “die” and “rot.” Naturally, there are fewer examples of twin kangaroo words than standard kangaroo words.
Then there are grand kangaroo words, which also contain two joey words. The difference here is that one of those joey words is contained entirely within the other joey word. “Alone” is an ideal example of a grand kangaroo word, as it contains “lone,” which itself contains the synonym “one.”
Finally, let’s discuss anti-kangaroo words, which have joey words that serve as antonyms instead of synonyms. Examples of these words include “bearded,” which contains “bare”; “feast,” which contains “fast”; and “there,” which contains “here.”
It’s important to note that kangaroo and joey sets aren’t necessarily etymologically connected (although they can be). Mostly, they serve as an interesting bit of wordplay.
The phrases “could care less” and “couldn’t care less” are both widely used to express a deep lack of concern with the topic at hand, despite the negation indicating these terms are opposites. Taken at face value, it would seem the former example doesn’t make nearly as much sense as the latter. After all, if you could care less about something, that suggests you care at least a little bit about whatever the topic may be, and there’s room for your level of care to be reduced. But if you couldn’t care less, then your interest is clearly at rock bottom. So does that make “couldn’t care less” the more accurate choice? Well, not exactly, despite what some logicians may argue.
Merriam-Webster defines both of the aforementioned phrases as “used to indicate that one is not at all concerned about or interested in something.” The linguistic resource acknowledges that the negative version is older but adds that it’s OK to use them synonymously, thanks to the prevalence of each in the common lexicon. In a blog post, the dictionary said, “Logic and grammar are often separate considerations,” especially concerning these two phrases that inspire heated opinions. To better understand this debate, let’s take a quick look at the origins of both phrases.
The uncontracted negative form — “could not care less” — shows up in texts in the 19th century, followed by the contracted form in the 20th century. There’s speculation it originated in the U.K., with printed versions found in the 1920s and 1930s, and was then likely brought to the U.S. by American soldiers after World War II.
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“Could care less,” meanwhile, also has origins dating back to the mid-19th century. However, at the time, it was always used in conjunction with a negative particle before it. One of the earliest citations is in the July 18, 1840, edition of The Morning Post from London: “It is impossible that he could care less.”
Over time, the negative particle was eventually dropped in common parlance for reasons that are unclear. By the 1950s, “could care less” was being used on its own, without any other negation in the sentence.
It might be helpful to think of “could care less” as an idiom — the individual meanings of each word don’t line up with the intended meaning of the phrase. Based on decades of use, it has come to mean the exact same thing as “couldn’t care less,” whether you agree with the logic or not.
That said, if you’re hoping to express yourself in a less controversial way, stick to “couldn’t care less,” given it has a more logically sound structure. But “could care less” is acceptable as well.
You may not recall the last time you had a shot — especially if you had more than one. But still, let’s take a look at the reasons why a small drink of alcohol is referred to this way.
Doing too many shots at the bar can leave your brain feeling fuzzy and your vision a little blurry. So it’s only fitting that the origins of the term “shot” are similarly hazy. One of the most common theories is that it’s derived from Old English, though others believe that the word came about in the Old West. Here’s a look at those theories, and several others, which may shine some light on this bit of boozy terminology.
The earliest known example of “shot” referring to a measure of drinking appears in the 16th-century autobiography of Rev. Oliver Heywood, which includes the phrase “their vain way of drinking shots.” However, what it means in that context isn’t entirely clear.
We find an early definition for “shot” in the 1721 work An Universal Etymology English Dictionary by Nathan Bailey: “a Flagon which the Host gives to his Guest if they drink above a Shilling.” A flagon, defined as “a large usually metal or pottery vessel (as for wine) with handle and spout and often a lid,” is traditionally a much larger drinking vessel than a shot glass, but this at least puts “shot” in the context of alcohol.
Elsewhere in Bailey’s work we find the definition for “Ale-Shot,” meaning “a reckoning, or Part to be paid at an Ale-house.” In other words, “ale-shot” was a term for any bar tab back in the day. Again, this isn’t exactly the definition of “shot” as we know it today, but these examples show that the word was commonly used bar language — at least enough to record its definition — by the early 18th century.
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Linguists theorize that somewhere along the way, the definition of “shot” evolved from a flagon of booze or a bar bill into what we know today. However, why or how that evolution occurred remains a bit of a mystery. According to the Etymology Online Dictionary, the precise meaning for “shot” as “a small drink of liquor” came about by the year 1928.
Other theories claim that “shot” was coined in the Old West and comes from the idea that gunslingers would trade bullet cartridges for shots of liquor, as they were roughly equal in value. But according to Snopes, this theory — despite being popular — holds little to no validity.
There are other theories related to the term “shot glass,” referring to the small glass you drink a shot out of. One says that it comes from the idea that hunters would put a small glass on the table for their families to discard any buckshot found in the meat they were eating. Another claims that shot glasses were first used by writers, who would fill small glasses with lead shot to hold them in place on a table, and then use the glasses to store their quills and ink. A third theory says that “shot glass” is named for German chemist Otto Schott, whose work primarily centered around glass. However, all of these theories are more likely just fun ideas than reality.
Similarly, it’s difficult to say for sure why small amounts of liquor are called shots, though it very likely has to do with the definitions mentioned in Nathan Bailey’s 1721 dictionary. But beyond the connection to drinking, the truth is as hazy as a long night spent at the bar.
If your favorite movies, music, and cultural touchpoints are from the 1950s, you may have some Silent Generation slang in your speech. These are some words worth keeping in the 2020s.
Contrary to its name, the Silent Generation had a loud impact on culture. Its members were born between 1928 and 1945, coming of age in the 1950s, parallel to the rise of rock ’n’ roll and the prominence of doo-wop. Artists today are still inspired by the popular musicians of that decade, and film fans often refer to it as the golden age of Hollywood. Indeed, movies such as Singin’ in the Rain, Sunset Boulevard, and Some Like It Hot remain lasting cinematic staples.
The 1950s were also a time of change in the U.S. as construction of the highway system and the suburbs accelerated after World War II. Visual markers such as diners, sock hops, Elvis-like gelled hair, and more dominate the imagery of the Silent Generation’s youth. Language evolved, too, with new terms to capture the energy and attitude of the era. Here’s some of the slang you can use on your way to the drive-in.
Greaser
Greasers were part of an influential subculture in the 1950s. The word probably originated before the 1950s and had a derogatory bent when it was first used, with the meaning of “an aggressive swaggering young white male usually of working-class background.” However, it has persisted thanks to the 1978 movie Grease and the 1983 movie The Outsiders, now a popular Broadway musical. As seen in those films, the typical greaser look was based on rock stars of the time: hair coiffed with pomade, a white T-shirt, a leather jacket, and heavy boots or Chuck Taylor sneakers.
Cruisin’ for a bruisin’
Lexicographers trace the origin of this idiom — referring to someone acting in a way that will invite retaliation — back to the 1940s. It was first documented in a 1945 issue of The Palisades, a publication written for the U.S. armed forces. We see it decades later in the movie Grease, when Danny Zuko says someone is “cruisin’ for a bruisin’.” The continued appearance in pop culture helped this phrase stay relevant beyond the 1950s.
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Passion pit
The rise of suburbs and car ownership in the United States in the 1950s led to the creation of drive-in movie theaters, which became a popular spot for dates. The passion pit was the section of the drive-in where couples would indulge in romantic moments.
Hip
Defining what was cool and staying up-to-date with trends in the 1950s was extremely important, and there were many words for coolness. “Hip” was used in the context of jazz music in the early 20th century, and by the 1950s it had come to mean “fashionable” or “stylish.” “Hip” crops up in one of the most iconic books of the 1950s, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, in which he describes another character as having a “hip sneer.”
Swell
“Swell” was another word to express that something was cool, fashionable, or stylish, but with a slightly dangerous edge to its reputation. In the 1957 stage musical The Music Man, Harold Hill drums up fear of the youth in the song “Ya Got Trouble” by proclaiming that boys in a pool hall are using words like “swell” — clearly a harbinger of delinquency.
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Ankle-biter
Continuing the theme of generational standoffs in the 1950s, adults called children they found annoying “ankle-biters.” People used the term to refer to small children as far back as the 1830s, and by the 1950s it began to apply to anyone people found generally annoying. These days, “ankle-biter” would more likely refer to a small dog than a youth.
Daddy-o
When you’re ready to fully embrace the return of Silent Generation slang, pick up the honorific “daddy-o,” which is commonly defined as “a term of familiar address to a man, originally used by jazz musicians to display camaraderie.” The novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (published in 1952) is peppered with “daddy-o,” establishing it as regular slang.
As kids, we learn a lot of words by reading them rather than hearing them spoken aloud. In certain cases, this can lead to mispronunciations that persist as we grow older.
There’s an age at which kids move past being read to by their parents and begin reading books on their own. While this is a positive step in a child’s development, it also means that they’re bound to encounter words they’ve never seen or heard before.
This is a good thing, too, but because the words are unfamiliar, kids may come up with slight mispronunciations based on a term’s appearance. (We know that many English words don’t fit standard phonetic rules.) These mispronunciations can persist into adulthood — you may go years before anyone corrects you and you realize your mistake. Here are seven examples of words that you may have been mispronouncing since childhood.
Anemone
The concept of an anemone — and more specifically a sea anemone — is something you may have encountered as a child while reading books about animals. These colorful and floral-like sea creatures have a name that looks like it should be pronounced “ANN-a-moan.” But the correct pronunciation puts the stress elsewhere and has a fourth syllable to boot: The word should actually be sounded out as “uh-NEH-muh-nee.”
Menagerie
The word “menagerie” appears in the children’s book Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum, which is in the series of books that inspired the popular movie of a similar name. If you read it when you were younger, you may have erroneously pronounced this word with a hard “g” — “muh-NA-gurr-ee.” But the proper pronunciation has a softer “g” sound and sounds like “muh-NA-zhr-ee.”
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Meringue
If you ever read the popular Amelia Bedelia books back in the day, you know they’re full of hijinks and mishaps due to homophones and other wordplay. In one of them, Amelia whips up a yummy lemon meringue pie worthy of inclusion in any recipe book. But if you were a child seeing that for the first time, you may have assumed that “meringue” — the dessert topping consisting of egg whites and sugar — should be pronounced as “muh-RAIN-goo.” But don’t be fooled: It should actually be pronounced as “muh-RANG,” with a more nasal sound at the end.
Fatigue
Words ending in “gue” seem to be especially tricky. “Fatigue” can be a perplexing term for a new reader, and younger readers in particular may be thrown off even further by the fact that it’s pronounced differently from similar-looking words such as “segue” (pronounced seh-gway). Avoid pronouncing it as “FAH-ti-gew” or “FAH-ti-gway.” The proper pronunciation is “fuh-TEEG” with a hard “g” at the end.
Sleuth
Young readers who are fond of detective mysteries such as Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys may fancy themselves as amateur sleuths — a term defined as “detective.” But be careful with how you say this word, as a new reader may mistakenly drag it out as a multiple-syllable word: “SLEH-ooth.” In reality, it should be pronounced “SLOOTH” with just a single syllable.
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Ennui
Children who aren’t particularly fond of reading may feel a sense of ennui, a synonym of “boredom.” They may also pronounce the French-origin word as “EH-new-ee,” which isn’t quite right. Ennui is actually pronounced “AHN-wee,” as it comes from the Old French enui, meaning “annoyance.”
Facade
You’re not alone if you pronounce “facade” as “fuh-KADE.” Just ask Infinite Jest author David Foster Wallace; in a 1996 interview, Wallace said he pronounced it with a hard “k” sound well into his first semester at college. “Facade” — meaning “the front of a building” or “a false appearance” — should actually be pronounced as “fuh-SAHD.” This is because it’s derived from the Italian faccia and French façade, which both have that softer sound.
Smartphones make it easy to send a quick text, but as communication styles have shifted, so has phone etiquette. Make sure you’re not putting anyone off with your texting style.
On March 10, 1876, inventor Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call to his assistant, Thomas Watson. It was a simple call: “Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.”
We’ve come a long way since then. The 20th century saw phone lines span the country and then oceans, and the devices themselves transformed from rotary dials to push buttons, and from corded to cordless versions. Then came mobile phones, which turned into smartphones.
Each iteration brought a unique set of rules and etiquette. Bell originally suggested answering the phone with an enthusiastic “Ahoy!” But another inventor, Thomas Edison, proposed “Hello!” — and it was this alternative greeting that was adopted widely when telephone companies included it in their instruction manuals.
Today, it’s much more likely for someone to exchange dozens of text messages in a day than to even think about making a telephone call, and texting etiquette is more nuanced than what to say as a greeting. Indicators such as tone and volume are lost through text messaging, so more weight is placed on word choice, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and emoji usage.
Texting etiquette changes across generations, as well. Friends in their 60s will text differently than those in their teens, and messages will likely be different if someone is texting their boss versus their mother.
Do you know what kind of hidden messages you might be sending with your texts? Let’s review some of the most common mistakes.
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Using Too Many Periods
Periods can cause miscommunication over text. As texting lingo developed, it became common for people to send texts without periods to shorten the messages. The lack of any final punctuation kept the conversation open and flowing. Now, ending short sentences with periods in texts can feel more aggressive than intended. A period after “OK,” for example, reads as a conversation ender, or even suggests that you’re angry with your texting partner.
Avoiding Exclamation Points
Unlike with periods, people tend to be liberal with exclamation points in text messages. They’re not reserved solely for excitement — they also convey warmth and friendliness. Use an exclamation point when you want to sound cheerful or agreeable, especially with millennial and Gen Z texters.
Overusing Ellipses
On the other side of the generational spectrum, boomers have a tendency to use ellipses to end their texts. A younger texter might read this with a passive-aggressive tone, instead of as a simple replacement for a period, so it can cause confusion. If you do want to use ellipses to indicate an ongoing thought (or to add an eye-rolling tone on purpose), try to limit your usage to where it really matters.
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Sending Emojis in Formal Messages
Emojis add character and fun to your text messages, but it’s easy to overuse them. As digital communication continues to expand in every area of our lives, you might find yourself texting with your doctor’s office, a child’s teacher, or in any other number of contexts more professional in nature. In these circumstances, skip the emojis and reserve them for messages to family and friends.
Keep in mind that there’s room for interpretation with emojis. A smiley face can add a friendly tone to your text, but many emojis also have hidden subtexts. (The eggplant emoji does not mean your garden is thriving.) If someone uses an emoji you’re unfamiliar with, just ask what it means. You might gain some knowledge about how to add nuance to your emoji vocabulary.
Responding Too Quickly (or Slowly)
If you initiate a conversation with someone and ask a question, following up too quickly before your texting partner has had a chance to respond can read as a little rude. It’s fair to give people time to pick up their phone, read, and digest before replying. Take a look at your text chain. If you see a string of messages from your side within a short period of time, take a break and let the other person respond. In dating contexts, a “double text” can indicate one party is a little too eager. Letting someone reply before you send a follow-up is better etiquette.
The other side of the coin is waiting too long to get back to someone. If you receive a question, especially one that requires a timely answer, it’s appropriate to get back to them quickly. You can also choose to acknowledge the question and promise to get back to them later. And if you’re the one waiting on an urgent reply, it might be better to pick up the phone and call for an answer.
If a message doesn’t require a reply but you still want to acknowledge that you read it, the latest iteration of smartphone texting allows icon responses to texts. You can tap on a message and leave a heart, a thumbs up, a thumbs down, or another emoji as a response. It’s a good way to get back to someone, even if you don’t have something specific to say.
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Mismatched Message Length
When someone sends you a short question, it’s best to respond with a short answer instead of an essay-length text with more context than necessary. At the same time, if someone sends you a long message explaining their feelings about a topic, a short message that just says “OK” can seem dismissive. You don’t have to respond to every point raised in a long message, but it’s important to acknowledge it in a matching tone. You can also send a message that you’ll get back to them when you have more time.
Abusing Group Chats
A great stride in texting technology was the creation of group texts. When you’re planning a party or an outing, or sharing the same information with several people, a group chat is an efficient texting strategy. But unless there’s an ongoing rapport among everyone on the list, it’s best to use group texts sparingly so you’re not inundating people.
If you’re added to a group text about planning dinner, for example, make sure to respond only with necessary information about attendance. If it’s a big group, no one wants a stream of lengthy messages clogging up the thread.
Conversely, a social group chat is exactly that: a space to socialize. The freedom to text with your friends regularly, whether they live close by or far away, makes group chats a great place for sharing news, inside jokes, and life updates. Just make sure you recognize everyone in the chat. You could get added to one where you don’t know all of the members and accidentally share sensitive information.
Unclear Sarcasm and Jokes
Being funny isn’t impossible over text, but it’s harder. For example, sarcasm doesn’t always land without the accompanying vocal tone. Leaning into Chandler Bing tendencies may work in person, but over text, it can be confusing or read as snarky.
You should also be clear when you’re telling a joke over text, especially with someone you don’t speak to very often. The more you get to know someone over text, the less you’ll have to specify tone. Anything that doesn’t work without the tone of your voice or the expression on your face will probably need clarification. (Here’s where an emoji 😂 can come in handy.)
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Calling Without Notice
There are certain things you simply don’t want to say over text message. Whether it’s good news or bad news, some information may require a phone call. Older folks are likely comfortable with speaking on the phone, but younger people may try to avoid it whenever possible. Before calling, consider sending a quick text message to ask if your friend is available to talk. With the ubiquity of texting, many people now prefer a heads-up.
American English and British English may be close cousins, but they don’t always understand each other. Many familiar American phrases can leave British listeners confused — and sometimes hearing the opposite of what was meant.
The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw supposedly described England and America as “two countries separated by the same language.” Whether Shaw actually said it or not (the evidence is inconclusive), the observation remains true. Despite sharing the same linguistic roots — and far more similarities than differences — the English spoken on either side of the Atlantic does sometimes differ in delightfully baffling ways.
For Americans in the United Kingdom, hearing the British casually say phrases such as “bits and bobs,” “Bob’s your uncle,” and “bog standard” can be both amusing and confusing. Likewise, plenty of American phrases leave Brits scratching their heads, despite the popularity of Hollywood movies and American TV in Britain. Here are some of the most common offenders that tend to baffle the British.
Monday Morning Quarterback
While many Brits know what a quarterback is, they might be a little confused by the idiom “Monday morning quarterback” — referring to someone who confidently analyzes and criticizes decisions after the fact. The British equivalent could be an “armchair critic” — but that doesn’t necessarily imply a criticism of something after it has happened. The American phrase comes out of the tradition of NFL games being played on Sundays, leading to amateur critiques on Monday.
For the Birds
Bird-watching is hugely popular in the U.K., but if an American tells a Brit that something is “for the birds,” the reaction might be a blank stare. In the U.S., if something is “for the birds,” it is worthless, pointless, or not worth bothering with. This likely originated as Army slang during World War II, when U.S. soldiers noted birds picking out seeds from horse droppings, the seeds being of no use or interest to anyone else. A common British equivalent would be “a load of old _____” (insert various words here, including “cobblers,” “rubbish,” “tosh,” and numerous NSFW alternatives).
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Talk Turkey
While a Brit may have heard the phrase “to talk turkey,” there’s a good chance they don’t know exactly what it means. In America, it’s a common expression to describe speaking frankly and directly, and getting down to serious business without unnecessary pleasantries. The phrase likely dates back to colonial America and may have originated from negotiations involving the plump game bird. The British are more likely to associate turkey with Christmas dinner than with straight talking, and might instead say, “Let’s get down to brass tacks,” or “Let’s stop beating around the bush.”
Jump the Shark
Jumping the shark is the moment at which something — a television series, a career, a cultural phenomenon — passes its peak and begins a significant change for the worse. It comes from a 1977 episode of the American sitcom Happy Days in which the character Fonzie jumps on water-skis over a shark — a moment widely regarded as when the show declined in both quality and popularity. The phrase is now used far beyond television, but its origin is so specifically American that many Brits, while they may have heard it used, likely don’t understand its meaning and are unfamiliar with its origins.
Lucked Out
This is a particularly treacherous expression for travelers crossing the pond. In American English, to luck out means to have a stroke of good fortune — to get lucky. But in British English, it means exactly the opposite: to run out of luck entirely. An American saying, “We totally lucked out and got the best seats,” is sharing good news, while a Brit might say, with a sigh, “We totally lucked out — there are no seats left.” It’s a fairly rare case of a phrase meaning diametrically opposite things to native speakers of the same language.
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Play Hooky
In the U.S., to play hooky is to skip school or work without permission. The phrase has been in use in America since at least the mid-19th century, possibly derived from the Dutch word hoekje, referring to the game of hide-and-seek. But “playing hooky” would sound strange to Brits and might not even be understood. They would instead use “playing truant,” “skiving,” or “bunking off” (along with other regional variants).
Bum Steer
A bum steer is a piece of false or misleading information — typically bad advice that sends someone in entirely the wrong direction. The phrase is used in North America, Australia, and New Zealand, but it never gained traction in the U.K. In fact, the average Brit would likely be quite confused by the expression, as “bum” is primarily an informal, everyday word for a person’s buttocks — which would normally not require steering.
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To Table
When Americans table something — a measure, a motion, a proposal — they are postponing it or setting it aside. But in Britain, to table something means the opposite: to bring something forward for immediate discussion (i.e., to put it on the table for consideration). It’s a difference fraught with potential mishap — in a meeting between two groups from either side of the Atlantic, it’s entirely possible that both parties leave convinced they have agreed on something different.
Whether you’re purchasing eggs or golf balls, you’ll often find them packaged by the dozen. The term “dozen” defines a group of 12, and it’s widely understood to mean that among English speakers around the globe. But while people know what a dozen is, they’re less familiar with why “dozen” came to refer to 12.
Use of the word “dozen” dates to the 14th century, though this exact spelling didn’t come about until the 1500s. It was preceded by spellings such as “dousen,” “dozyne,” “duzan,” and other similar variants. Regardless of the exact spelling, the word is derived from the Middle English dozeine, which comes from the Anglo-French duzeine. That came from the Latin duodecim, which combines duo, meaning “two,” and decem, meaning “10” — this is why “dozen” means 12.
Now that we’ve touched upon the etymology, it’s worth discussing why “dozen” has such lasting appeal. After all, those ancient languages had similar terms for other numbers, so it’s a bit curious why those didn’t also become widely used in English. For example, in Latin, undecim means “set of 11” and tredecim means “set of 13.” So if we were to follow the same logic that created “dozen,” why don’t we also use “unzen”or “trezen”?
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The simple fact is that goods have long been sold in sets of 12. The reason can be traced back to the time of the Anglo-Saxons (roughly the fifth through eighth centuries), when the term “shilling” was coined as an accounting unit equivalent to 12 pence (one pence being roughly equal in value to one penny). A physical shilling coin was introduced in Britain at the beginning of the 16th century. The coin was discontinued in 1966, but when it was introduced, it was common for vendors to sell either one egg for a pence or 12 for a shilling, as there was no single coin valued in between those amounts.
As for “baker’s dozen,” it comes from medieval England and relates to a law called the Assize of Bread and Ale, which protected buyers from being ripped off by merchants selling underweight bread. The fines were so serious that many breadmakers would throw in a 13th loaf to avoid being accused of selling less than promised. The term “baker’s dozen,” describing a group of 13, was coined in reference to this practice.
Just because you see something every day doesn’t necessarily mean you know the word for it. Here are a few succinct terms you can use for certain familiar sights.
Picture the lint in your pocket, a dab of toothpaste, or the space between your eyebrows. While it’s easy to express those familiar concepts in a few words, finding a single word is more challenging. But rest assured, there are terms for all of those things, as well as many other everyday objects that seem to lack common verbiage. Here’s a look at 10 weird words for ordinary things.
Gnurr
In the 1958 children’s book Ounce, Dice, Trice, Scottish poet Alastair Reid came up with the word “gnurr” — a term for the fuzzy lint that accumulates in the corner of a pocket or inside one’s trouser cuffs. The purpose of Reid’s book was to celebrate the playfulness of language, which he accomplished, in part, by coining this colloquial term. Reid added that “gnurr” is a smaller variety of “oosse” (“the airy furry stuff that ultimately gathers under beds”).
Octothorpe
You may know the # symbol as a hashtag or pound sign. But there’s a different term for this little mark: “octothorpe.” The word is broken down into two parts: The “octo-” prefix comes from the eight visible points on the # symbol, but the origins of the “-thorpe” suffix are less clear, as it’s not related to any common Latin or Greek elements. One theory appears in the Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories (1991). The claim is that “octothorpe” was coined as a bit of a lark by telephone engineers, and that the suffix is akin to the sound of someone burping, without much etymological reasoning beyond that.
Zarf
The Turkish word zarf translates to “envelope,” though it also historically refers to a device made for holding ornamental coffee cups during the Ottoman Empire. Many years later in the 1990s, an Oregonian named Jay Sorensen created a paper sleeve for holding hot cups of coffee. The sleeve came to be known as a zarf, drawing inspiration from the ornate metal coffee cup holders that long preceded it.
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Glabella
The word “glabella” is defined as “the smooth prominence between the eyebrows.” It’s been in use since 1823, coming from the Latin glaber, meaning “hairless” or “smooth.” The “-ella” suffix signifies its diminutive size, as the space between one’s eyebrows is often relatively small.
Nurdle
The term “nurdle” is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a plastic pellet that is usually less than 0.2 inch in diameter or length.” But when it comes to dental hygiene, it also refers to the little blob of toothpaste on a toothbrush. In this context, however, its origins are unclear. Some say it’s a spelling variant of “nodule,” which can refer to a small rounded lump. It was used for dabs of toothpaste by 1968, when “nurdle” began appearing in advertisements for Vote toothpaste: “One nurdle of Vote on your toothbrush is strong enough to kill the dragon and clean and brighten your pretty little teeth.”
Muntin
The wooden strip that separates two panes of glass is a muntin. This comes from the French monter, which is a verb meaning “to rise.” The first known use of the term dates back to 1774, though it remains a common design style all these years later.
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Griffonage
If you’ve ever tried to read a child’s or doctor’s sloppy handwriting, you’ve probably had a hard time deciphering the griffonage. The term “griffonage” is defined as “careless handwriting” or “a crude or illegible scrawl.” It’s derived from the Middle French term grifouner, meaning “to scribble,” which itself comes from griffon, meaning “stylus” — a type of writing implement.
Tittle
The word “tittle” may raise some eyebrows, but in the world of linguistics, it means “a point or small sign used as a diacritical mark in writing.” In layman’s terms, it refers to the dot above a lowercase “i” or “j.” This word is derived from the Latin titulus, which was once widely used in reference to strokes appearing above abridged words in order to indicate missing letters.
Lunula
If you look at one of your fingernails, you’ll likely see a crescent-shaped, whitish portion at the base. That mark is a lunula, which is a Latin word that means “little moon.”
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Aglet
Look at your shoelaces — that tiny covering at the very end of each lace is an aglet, defined as “the plain or ornamental tag covering the ends of a lace or point.” The word comes from the Middle French aguillette, which is a diminutive of arguille, meaning “needle, pin.” The next time you lace up a pair of sneakers, think of threading a needle.
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