Etymology is the study of the origins of words and how their usage has changed over time. It's every bit the serious academic discipline you might expect it to be — except when it's not. As it turns ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Every word we use carries with it layers of history and culture that shape its meaning and usage today. Often, the words flowing ...

Well, “comrade,” I bet you always thought that word comes from Russian. Not so. Although the term was often associated with communism in Western culture during the last century, Communists of the ...

Have you ever wondered where all the weird words in English come from? For example, when someone refers to the presence of small children as "hearing the pitter-patter of little feet" — where on earth ...

First in a series of occasional short takes on unusual courses in local schools. For a few hours every other afternoon, Latin and Greek roots rain on Phil Rosenthal's etymology class at Park View High ...

We often hear fascinating stories about how things originated: the universe, the wheel, even pizza. But when it comes to the words we toss around every single day without a second thought, it's wild ...

A new book exploring the origins of common food terms — from bialy to lima bean to bibimbap — is a fascinating history of how we eat and cook. By Kim Severson Used judiciously, the snappy tidbits of ...

Know the origins of the names of your favorite fall foods. The fall harvest doesn't let word lovers go hungry: It yields a cornucopia of etymological roots as well. Feast on the bounty of these ...

You probably say “goodbye” multiple times a day without thinking twice. It’s the way you bid farewell to a friend, partner, relative, coworker, etc. And the word is so ordinary that most people never ...

While countries in northern Africa use different terms, in South Africa and surrounding areas, “dagga” is commonly used to describe cannabis. Dagga is the Afrikaans word for cannabis that became ...

The study of word origins (that is, etymology) is every bit the serious academic discipline you might expect it to be — except when it's not. As it turns out, people have a propensity to make false ...