remote – From Latin remotus, the past participle of removere, “remove.” More…
remote sensing – The scanning of the earth by satellite or aircraft to obtain information about it. More…
devious – Its literal meaning is “out of the way,” from Latin de via—applied to a place that was remote because it was off the main road. More…
remote control – The term existed by 1904, and the shortened version, remote, was used in print by 1966. More…
fighting fire with fire – Early American settlers had to put out great prairie fires and learned that setting a circle or strip of land on fire could stop the path or lessen the impact of a big fire—giving us the phrase “fighting fire with fire.” More…
freezing rain – Rain that freezes on impact with the ground or objects. More…
draw – The billiard ball’s recoil after impact. More…
impinge, infringe – To impinge is to come into contact or encroach or have an impact; to infringe is to encroach on a right or privilege or to violate. More…
sheath – Seems to have first been a split stick that a sword could be inserted into. More…
spades – As a suit in a deck of cards, it has nothing to do with spades as tools, but comes from Spanish espada, “sword.” More…
spay – A shortening of a French word espeer, meaning “cut with a sword.” More…
gladiator, gladiate – The main Latin word for sword was gladius, from which came gladiator; gladiate is an adjective meaning sword-shaped. More…
occultation – One of its meanings is “the disappearance from view of a star or planet in the sun’s rays after sunset or before sunrise, when the star or planet is above the horizon.” More…
acronical – Means happening at sunset or twilight. More…
antitwilight – The sky’s pink or purple glow after sunset. More…
evening – Its Old English base meant “grow towards night,” as evening extends from sunset to dark. More…
shot – Referring to a fluid dram of liquor, the term is fairly new, dating to 1928 (PG Wodehouse). More…
deadline – Originally a Civil War term for a line that marked the distance a prisoner could go before being shot on sight. More…
schuss – A straight downhill ski run, it is literally German for “a shot.” More…
beside the point – The expression is from ancient archery, and literally means one’s shot is wide of the target. More…
embezzle – Originally, it simply meant “steal.” More…
purloin – Meaning to steal, it is from Latin pur/pro, “forth,” and loign, “far.” More…
scrounge – First meant to live off or sponge off someone else; it is a variant of scrunge, “steal.” More…
snoop – From Dutch snoepen, “eat on the sly,” it first meant “steal and eat in a clandestine manner.” More…
roorback – A false report made to damage the reputation of a political candidate. More…
character, reputation – Character is what one is; reputation is what one is thought to be by others. More…
denigrate – From Latin de- and nigare, “blacken,” it first meant “make black or dark in color,” and came to mean “blacken the reputation of.” More…
erase – From Latin e-, “out,” and radere, “scrape.” More…
raze, razor – Raze, from French raser, “shave close,” is from Latin radere, “scrape, scratch”—also giving us razor. More…
gride – To scratch, scrape, or cut with a grating sound. More…
scrumble – To scrape or scratch (something) out of or from. More…