Posts

What is an octothorpe?

Image
In the 1960s engineers at Bell Labs were designing the first touch keyboard telephones.

How did Japanese words enter the English language?

Image
Oxford English Dictionary editor, John Simpson, explains how Japanese words entered English in three distinct historical phases.

Which American term did Sergeant Pepper introduce to Britain?

Image

What is a rookie? Where does the word come from?

Image
A rookie is someone new to a particular situation or recently promoted to a higher level of competition or responsibility.

Where does the word pundit come from?

Image
From the Hindi/Sanskrit word 'pandit'. 

What is a smoking gun? Where does the phrase come from?

A smoking gun is piece of incontrovertible incriminating evidence. 

Which language has the most words?

Image

Which languages do Americans speak at home?

Image

Top 10 words with the most entries in the Oxford English Dictionary?

Image
Here are the words with the most separate entries in the OED:

Top 10 words with most OED entries? What do they have in common?

Image

Most popular word in English?

It has only two letters but is arguably 'America's greatest word'.  

Most common spelling mistakes in English?

Image
These are the five most common spelling errors in English:

What is Asperger's Syndrome? What is an ASD?

Image
The terminology surrounding this area is confusing, partly for historical reasons.