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“Ye” in Names Like “Ye Olde Coffee Shoppe” Should Be Pronounced “The”, Not “Yee”
Today I found out the “ye” as in “Ye Olde Coffee Shoppe” should be pronounced “the”. The “Ye” here is not the “ye” as in “Judge not, that ye (you) be not judged”, but
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Where the Expression “I For One Welcome Our New X Overlords” Came From
Today I found out where the expression “I for one welcome our new X overlords” came from. For those not familiar with this now popular funny meme, the basic idea is to substitute X
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“Emoticons” is Short for “Emotive Icons”
This is a guest post contributed by Nissi Unger Today I found out “emoticons” is short for “emotive Icons”. One of the definitions of “emotive”, of course, is “appealing to or expressing emotion”, hence
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Origin of the Phrase “Blonde Bombshell”
Today I found out the origin of the phrase “blonde bombshell”. “Blonde bombshell” is often used to describe an exciting, dynamic, sexy woman with blonde hair, particularly blonde celebrity sex symbols. The expression seems
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Where Did the Phrase “Take a Gander” Come From?
S.Belsky asks: Where did the phrase “take a gander” come from? What the hell is a “gander” and why would I want to take it? As you are no doubt aware, but for those
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Why Do They Call Grandfather Clocks by That Name?
J.Kaus asks: Why are Grandfather clocks called Grandfather clocks? At first glance, the answer seems obvious. Think about it- when was the last time you saw a grandfather clock in the house of anyone
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Why are Women Called Sluts, Dames, and Broads?
Rinni asks: Why are women sometimes called “sluts”, “dames”, and “broads”? Where did these words come from? Origin of the Word “Slut” “Slut” originally didn’t mean at all what it means today. For instance,
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A Man Once Tried to Raise His Son as a Native Speaker in Klingon
Today I found out a man once tried to raise his son as a native speaker in Klingon. The man is computational linguist Dr. d’Armond Speers. Speers is actually not a huge Start Trek
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Origin of the Word Lukewarm
Today I found out the origin of the word “lukewarm”. You’ve probably wondered why we have the word “lukewarm” for describing something that is only slightly warm. Why not “stevewarm” or “beckywarm”? Well if
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Origin of the Term Jaywalking
Today I found out where the word “jaywalking” came from. For those not familiar with this term (i.e. many people outside of the United States), jaywalking is when, “A pedestrian… crosses a street without
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