The idea, occurred to some medieval scholastic philosophers. Their reasoning went roughly like this. Humphrys, John (12 March 2012). "Do we overuse 'literally'?". BBC Radio 4 . Retrieved 9 January 2015. The Romans looked at the Jews rather in the way that some modern Westerners look at Tibet or India. The Jews were eastern and mysterious and they had this mysterious ancient religion, which was really ancient, and probably contained some really profound kind of ancient wisdom that was really ancient. The Etymologicon is an occasionally ribald, frequently witty and unerringly erudite guided tour of the secret labyrinth that lurks beneath the English language. Because the calendar was decreed by Julius, it got called the Julian Calendar. Life was simple again for a millennium and a half.

Start with something simple. We've got the verb give, which we all know, and the thing that you give is a gift. They're quite obviously related. This is Not Interesting. The etymology, by the way is Greek. Pan means everything, as in a pandemic which is a disease that has spread to all the people. The demic there is the same as democracy, which is government by the people. A reviewer in The Daily Telegraph wrote: "From ante-jentacular to snudge by way of quafftide and wamblecropt, at last you can say, with utter accuracy, exactly what you mean." [29]Forsyth, Mark (27 November 2013). "The Turkey's Turkey Connection". The New York Times . Retrieved 17 January 2015.

Horologicon: A Day's Jaunt Through the Lost Words of the English Language (Icon Books, 2012) ISBN 978-1-848-31415-3 and (Berkley Trade, 2013) ISBN 978-0-425-26437-9 You would have fun reading this book. Really. If it helps, the book was composed by more posts made by the author on his blog. That will entail that they are from the beginning build as to attract attention and to amuze the reader. Not to say that the non-fiction books are purposefully build to bore one to sleep. I am just saying that they are not really a read to be taken to the beach (not that there are many occasions left to go to the beach, now with the dear old pandemy). Bazil II – a Byzantine Emperior who reigned from 976-1025 ruthlessly conquered the peoples of southern Bulgaria. In the north of the country they were subjudicated by the Holy Roman Empire. “So many Slavs were defeated and oppressed that the word Slav itself became interchangeable with forced labour, and that is where we get the world Slave."Right from the beginning it took off in a delightfully pedantic direction, with a casual encounter in a cafe turning from innocent etymological question into an explanation of the history and origin of every word ever, spawning the idea for this book. A lengthy section on how to make sheepskin paper, how in the end, after all is said and done, we're left with the shape and size that the kindle is forced to mimic 'cause we're just so damned used to it (ol' Gutenberg used it after all. Well, not the kindle size...?) I admit, I'm a bit geeky, especially when it comes to words or books - and when there's a book about words, I turn from 'a bit geeky' to 'full blown geek mode'. That's where I am now. What is The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth? It's not an academic work, that's for sure, nor a thesis, nor a highly-focused and heavily detailed linguistic magnum opus. It's also not boring, or stuffy, or in fact anything it doesn't claim to be. If I had to describe The Etymologicon in one sentence, I'd probably say it's an etymological stream of consciousness that, as promised, goes full circle and leaves you smiling from ear to ear. 'Romp' is not a word that I use often but actually, it's a word that fits this book well - it's a good humoured, rolling romp through the history and origins of a whole bunch of words that are barely yet humorously strung together by Forsyth's flitting conscious.

Mars was identified with the Germanic god Tyw (who's actually etymologically related to Zeus and Jove), hence Tuesday.Mark Forsyth (born 2 April 1977) [1] [2] is a British writer of non-fiction who came to prominence with a series of books concerning the meaning and etymology of English words. [3] Forsyth, Mark (15 February 2014). "Bloody 'L' ". The Independent. London (UK): Independent Print Ltd. p.9.

So Julius Caesar decreed that everyone should have a new calendar with an extra day every four years. This is pretty familiar stuff: it's February 29th, a leap year. The pelican theory is a bit silly. It attempts to explain away a not-that-believable story with an even less likely one. It would be a lot simpler to suggest that Mr Arnold imagined the whole thing. The pelicans are unlikely, and if I have learned anything in this life, it is that one should never rely on an unlikely pelican. Of course, there were naysayers. There were those who said that the flying saucers were, in fact, clouds, or very distant mountain tops, or very near drops of water on the windows of Mr Arnold's own aircraft, or pelicans.Midsummer Night's Dream actually takes place on the night of April 30/May 1st. When Theseus finds the young lovers he says: