The word Mamihlapinatapai is listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the “most succinct word” and means “a look shared by two people, each wishing that the other would initiate something that they both desire but which neither wants to begin.”
The Chinese word for “contradiction”, 矛盾, consisting…
The Chinese word for “contradiction”, 矛盾, consisting of the characters for “spear” and “shield” respectively, is said to derive from an old tale in which a Chinese merchant proclaimed to sell “spears that could pierce any shield” and “shields that could defend from all spear attacks”.
The word “hobbit” has been found exactly once in…
The word “hobbit” has been found exactly once in texts predating Tolkien, in a list of magical creatures with no explanation or context.
The word “OK” originated in 1839 when…
The word “OK” originated in 1839 when a newspaper used it as a funny abbreviation of “oll korrect.”
A witness in a Scottish court who had answered “aye”…
A witness in a Scottish court who had answered “aye” to confirm he was the person summoned was told by the Sheriff that he must answer either “yes” or “no”. His name was read again and he was asked to confirm it, he answered “aye” again, and was imprisoned for 90 minutes for contempt of […]
The word “robot” was first used in a 1920 play…
The word “robot” was first used in a 1920 play and was derived from the Slavic word for “slave labor.”
“Run” is the word with the most different meanings…
“Run” is the word with the most different meanings. The verb-form alone has no fewer than 645 meanings and Peter Gilliver worked for more than nine months to work out all of them.
Cliché comes from the sound made when plates with…
Cliché comes from the sound made when plates with commonly used words or phrases were fitted into a printing press. These plates were called stereotypes.
The word “legend” originally meant “things to be read…
The word “legend” originally meant “things to be read”. In the pre-Medieval period, reading and writing were very rare, and so anything worthy of being written down was something very noteworthy, and thus “legendary”$$ worthy of being written down and read.
Strawberry generation is a Taiwanese term for…
Strawberry generation is a Taiwanese term for anyone who is born after 1981. Named after strawberries because strawberries “bruise easily”, they can not withstand social pressure or work hard like their parents’ generation.