Fact-based Word Journeys
Kangaroo Is a Real Word, Not a Polite Shrug
A popular story says kangaroo means I don't understand, but the word was a real name for a big grey kangaroo, written down beside a river in 1770.
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Fact-based How It Started
Your Pencil Has Never Had Any Lead in It
The grey core of a pencil is graphite, a soft form of carbon, and the lead in its name comes from a mix-up on an English hillside more than 450 years ago.
Fiction Made-Up Words
Peelgrace: Lifting the Film Off Something New in One Perfect Sheet
(n.) The small, glowing joy of peeling the clear film off a brand-new screen in one unbroken sheet, without a single tear or bubble.
Fact-based Word Journeys
Pyjamas Began as Persian Leg Clothes Worn in Broad Daylight
Pyjamas, pijama and pizhama all come from a Persian phrase for leg clothing, and the loose trousers it named were worn in the daytime long before anyone went to bed in them.
Fiction Made-Up Words
Tabhoard: The Forty Browser Tabs You Are Definitely Going to Read
Tabhoard is the quiet row of open browser tabs you are keeping for later, each one a small promise that later will somehow arrive.
Fact-based Word Journeys
The Word Sugar Began as an Ancient Word for Gravel
Sugar in English, sakhar in Russian and azúcar in Spanish all grew from one Sanskrit word for grit and gravel, which travelled west with the sweet crystals themselves.
Fiction Made-Up Words
Stairhoard: The Pile That Lives at the Bottom of the Stairs
(n.) The small, patient heap at the foot of the staircase, made entirely of things that belong upstairs, which the whole household steps over for six days.
Fact-based Word Journeys
A Magazine and a Russian Shop Are the Same Arabic Word
Magazine, the Spanish almacén and the Russian magazin all grew out of one Arabic word for a back room full of sacks, and only one of them ended up made of paper.
Fiction Made-Up Words
Echowish
(n.) The reflex that fires a good wish straight back at the person who offered it, so that a waiter setting down your dinner is warmly told to enjoy his meal too.
Fact-based Word Journeys
The Word Coffee Took the Long Way Round
Before it reached your cup, the word coffee travelled from Arabic into Turkish and then all over Europe, picking up a new spelling in almost every language.