An acronym is a word made up of the initial letters of other words, like NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) or AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). You probably knew that already, but I only became familiar with the word at university, when someone explained the derivation of the word Narg (which you can read about… Continue reading Word of the week: backronym
What word or words do you use at the end of brief exchanges with people you don’t know? If you pay for something in a shop or bar, what do you say when you get your change or your receipt? If the person who has served you is male, maybe it’s “Cheers mate” or “Thanks… Continue reading Word of the week: man
The shortest “Word of the Week” item so far on this Blog is this one about kakistocracy. I first heard the word on a quiz show back in March. As that earlier piece notes: “Some of these … pieces are about words that have come up in a few different contexts in the weeks beforehand… Continue reading Word of the week: taiga
Earlier this year, on an episode of the ITV quiz show “The Chase”, Bradley Walsh told a brief anecdote about Winston Churchill and the orange-based liqueur Cointreau. The story, as I recall it, was that when Churchill was in his 70s his doctor told him that he wasn’t eating enough fruit and vegetables and needed… Continue reading Word of the week: Cointreau
Today is International Mountain Day. That’s a new one on me. According to its website, here, “The United Nations General Assembly designated 11 December ‘International Mountain Day’. As of 2003, it has been observed every year to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life, to highlight the opportunities and constraints in mountain development… Continue reading Word of the week: Hope
Back in the 1970s we often heard the word nostalgia in the following one-liner: “Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be”. Etymologically that turns out to be true. The word is derived from the Greek “nostos” (return home) and “algos” (pain), so it used to mean homesickness (like “Heimweh” in German), or a longing for… Continue reading Word of the week: nostalgia
Yesterday morning, in the few minutes between waking and getting up, Buckfast was on my mind: the word, the abbey, the tonic wine. The tonic wine was mentioned on BBC1’s “Question Time” last week, which is probably what started all this. (More about that later on.) Yesterday afternoon, on his “Sounds of the 70s” radio… Continue reading Word of the week: Buckfast
The word “Pass” has been a feature of quizzes and quiz shows since the 1970s at least, popularized by the BBC show “Mastermind”. There is a point to it in “Mastermind”. If a contestant doesn’t know the answer to a question they can say “Pass”. The show’s presenter (currently John Humphrys; it was Magnus Magnusson… Continue reading Word of the week: pass
A few weeks ago Susie Dent, in her Origin of Words slot on the Channel 4 show “Countdown”, featured the word “malaphor”. It’s a cross between a malapropism and a metaphor, or series of metaphors. Malapropism is a word that I have been aware of since the age of 12 and, unlike zeugma or synecdoche,… Continue reading Word of the week: malaphor
“Alphabetical” is a weekday afternoon quiz show, another one we have added to the “series record” list on our multi-channel box. It sits alongside “The Chase”, “Pointless”, “Countdown”, “University Challenge”, “Mastermind” and “Only Connect”. Combined with episodes of “Have I Got News for You”, “Strictly Come Dancing” and “Upstart Crow”, and over 100 “Top of… Continue reading Word of the week: alphabetical
The Compartments 