And that's so beautiful that nobody will ever better it; even though, to modern ears, it sounds like an invitation from a woman with a raclette*. Forsyth, Mark (13 December 2014). "The Servant". The Spectator. The Spectator (1828) Ltd . Retrieved 17 January 2015.

Mark Forsyth's Ternion Set". The Daily Telegraph. London (UK): Daily Telegraph. 15 November 2014. p.9. Stevens, Heidi (26 September 2012). "Etymology, the mystery of Spam and other deep questions: Mark Forsyth's 'Etymologicon' explores roots and connections of phrases". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 18 January 2015. OMG, Cupid - this is the written word's golden age: Far from destroying literacy, the social media have given writing a new importance, especially in the art of wooing, says Mark Forsyth (Sunday Times, 28 October 2012) [56]Harris, Gemma Elwin (2012). Big questions from little people--and simple answers from great minds. New York: Ecco. ISBN 978-0-062-22322-7 . Retrieved 18 January 2015. But the week was just popular. It spread northward even without planets to pull it there. It is strange to think that there is no seven-day week in Homer, nor in any of the Greek dramatists; and strange to think that this arbitrary seven day cycle has been running without pause for at least two and half thousand years, probably much longer. Some people, rather foolishly, think that seven days is a quarter of the lunar cycle: seven days from new moon to half full, another week to full, another week waning to half, and another week until it disappears. But there's a problem. This system is two days out. Four weeks is 28 days, and a lunar cycle lasts 30 days.

You don’t really learn anything useful from etymology. There’s nothing in the subject that will qualify you for a job, or make you money, or save you in an emergency. That’s why it’s very rarely taught in schools, as schools are subject to the Tyranny of the Useful. But etymology does make the world a funnier and more beautiful place. An epic history can lie behind some terribly mundane word that you use every day and never thought twice about. Take Bluetooth. Why is it called that? Why when you desperately try and fail to connect your speakers to your phone, do you try to activate blue teeth? Among them is Cynsige for the Kensington stations which are named after Anglo-Saxon subsistence farmerI should point out that I always save all my money for a rainy day, but I live in England, so my savings don't last long.) This whole amusing situation lasted until 1752, when Britain finally capitulated and joined the Gregorian Catholics. That in turn really pissed off our colonists in North America, and caused the American revolution.

Today is the first of May, or that's what Shakespeare thought, as did all proper Englishmen. May, for him, ran from May 11th to June 10th. 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 b c Paton, Aubrey (12 October 2012). "How to be a clever clogs". Times Live. Times Media Group . Retrieved 18 January 2015.Astle, David (26 May 2013). "Why Read Dictionaries with David Astle and Mark Forsyth". Radio National Weekend Arts. Sydney, Australia: ABC . Retrieved 18 January 2015. R. Reitzenstein (1897), Geschichte der griechischen Etymologika: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Philologie in Alexandria und Byzanz (Leipzig; repr. Amsterdam 1964). The Etymologicon is a book of words. Well, technically all books are books of words (except picture books), but this one is about words, words and phrases. The origins of words more specifically. Each chapter digs into the origin of a word or phrase, starting with the phrase "a turn up for the books", and exploring it's meaning, it's origin, other words or phrases that share the same origins and wandering around in a sort of a rambling conversation that is interesting, funny, and by chance also educational. Somehow, like that word game in the newspaper, Forsyth starts the chapter with one word and manages to wind the conversation through to end on another, explaining his train of thought as he goes. This final word, then becomes the starting word for the next chapter. BBC 4 Book of the Week: The Horologicon". BBC.co.uk. BBC. 4 December 2012 . Retrieved 9 January 2015. You could also make clothes out of buff leather, but it was a little odd to do so as buff leather is pretty much skin-coloured. So a suit made of the material would make you look naked, at least at first glance. That’s why in the buff still means naked – it was a Victorian euphemism.

And then the noun drift can get turned into a verb and the boat starts drifting. It is the gift that keeps gifting. Israel-Hamas war LIVE: Israeli airstrikes destroy 300 targets in Gaza and Lebanon overnight as WHO warns of 'imminent public health catastrophe' Perrottet, Tony, "Sloshed, Hammered, Blotto — We’ve Been Doing It for Ages", The New York Times, May 30, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2023.So you had the odd situation of a ten day gap between England and Europe. When, it was May 1st in Dover, it was May 11th in Calais, even though France is (alas) only 26 miles away. Illustrious and illustration both come from the Latin illustratus which meant lit up. In English the word illustration came first, and it meant to teach by means of examples, shedding light upon an abstract subject. I ought to get a disclaimer out of the way - this title is published by Icon, the same people who publish my Inflight Science, but don't worry, I've slagged off their books in the past. Other royalty including Princess Diana and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have lived there in more recent decades.