Happy Wednesday, word nerds! You may be tempted to think today’s word has been inspired by the onset of coughs and colds as we move into winter here in Australia, but it actually has more to do with the sudden love my children have developed for the Disney animation of Beauty and the Beast. And ten points to you if you know what the connection is between Beauty and the Beast and the word expectorating!
Happy Wednesday, word nerds! Have you ever come across a word that sounds all wrong for its meaning? Today’s words is one of those for me. It came up no less than three times in a book I was reading recently, and I have to say, it kind of stuck out like a sore thumb. I’m pretty sure I’d never heard the word before, and being the good little word nerd that I am, I looked up its meaning:
Happy Wednesday, word nerds! Don’t you think idiosyncrasy is a cool word? I’ve been reminded of it thanks to my current read, which I can’t say anything about at present (how’s that for getting all mysterious on you!) The word has come up a few times in relation to some of the characters, and it struck me as a good word to investigate etymologically. Because that just happens to be one of my idiosyncrasies!
Happy Wednesday, word nerds! This week’s Word Nerd post has been inspired by a comment I got yesterday on one of my previous posts: Flat Out Like a Lizard Drinking. In that post I made use of the phrase ‘ten to the dozen’ meaning to go at a rapid pace, but a commenter yesterday pointed out that to convey the idea of speed, surely it would be more appropriate to say ‘twenty to the dozen’—or at least, a number that is greater than twelve rather than less than twelve.
Happy Wednesday, word nerds! Today’s Word Nerd post is inspired by yesterday’s Top Ten Tuesday post in a round-about kind of way. Yesterday’s topic was Books I’d Slay a Lion to Get Early. As I was thinking about the post, I began thinking about phrases other than ‘slay a lion’ that could be used to convey the same sort of meaning, and one of the first ones that came to me was I’d give my eye-teeth. It wasn’t long before I was asking myself, ‘What’s so special about my eye-teeth, anyway?’
Happy Wednesday, word nerds! It’s been a while since I’ve had a Word Nerd post because I’ve had so many other things happen around here, but I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to share this week’s word since I read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde a couple of weeks ago:
Welcome, word nerds! Word Nerd Wednesday is back after a two-week hiatus due to sheer busyness! This week’s phrase comes to you from my eldest daughter, who loves these posts (and proof reads them before I post them!) She heard me use the phrase ‘out of the blue’ earlier this week and immediately said, “That’s a great idea for a Word Nerd Wednesday post!” Well, I couldn’t say no to that! I had a pretty fair idea of what blue referred to before I looked this one up, and I was right; blue refers to the sky. But why do we
Greetings, word nerds! I had one of those moments this week where I said something that I’ve said hundreds of times before, and suddenly thought, “Why do we say that, anyway?” The phrase? with flying colours. You most often hear it used in the context of passed with flying colours or came through with flying colours. But there is a related expression that has a similar origin: to show one’s true colours. So, what’s the deal with these colours?