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WORLD WIDE WORDS New from the last e-magazine issue Sixpenny nails We did once use the same system in the UK — it was invented here and taken to the US by colonists — but it died out early in the twentieth century. Not only have we gone over to measuring nails by length but ... Aposematic I came across the word in an article about Bristol Zoo, which has set up an amphibian sanctuary to breed two endangered species. One of them is the golden mantella frog of Madagascar, which is a brilliant golden-orange. The ... Read all of the last issue, including the most recent Sic! section. Randomly chosen Toad-eater We have to go back to British market and fairground quack doctors of the seventeenth century and earlier for the origin of this one. It was common for such men to have an assistant to do the dirty work, often somebody young ... Recently added pages Fatootsed; Peristeronic; Keep it under your hat; The First English Dictionary of Slang; Garboil; Lo and behold; Ooglification; Gamification; Three books in brief; Shrinking violet; Gong farmer; Neurosexism; Troop; Bedizened; Chops; Prodnose; Bedbug; In a trice; Jumentous; NDM-1; Oxford Dictionary of English; Ugsome; Nine days’ wonder; Mournival; Cucumber time; First, Second and Third; Gastro-diplomacy; Nurdle; Bread-and-butter letter; Roister-doister; Dilemma. The next website update The next update to this site is due on 30 October. You may then, among other things, be able to read about the curious old word culpon that meant to carve a trout and discover the origins of the American expression thrown for a loop. |
About World Wide Words The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or change their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least some part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, the background to words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. This site is the archive of pieces that have appeared in the free e-magazine. Weekly issues include much more than appears here, including discussion by readers, serendipitous encounters with unfamiliar language, and tongue-in-cheek tut-tuttings at errors perpetrated by sloppy writers. Notes and comments
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