visit, visitation – A visit is an instance of visiting; a visitation is an act of visiting, and carries the connotation of an unexpected or undesired occurrence. More…
October surprise – An unexpected, but popular, political act made just prior to a November election, in an attempt to win votes. More…
off the wall – Alludes to squash or handball, when a shot comes off the wall at an unexpected or erratic angle. More…
wrong-foot – To disconcert by doing something unexpected. More…
heckle – First a “flax comb” for splitting and straightening the fibers for spinning; its metaphorical sense developed from its verb form, “to mangle by cutting, to cut roughly.” More…
distaff side, spear side – The female side of a family is the distaff side—the distaff being a stick used for holding yarn when spinning; the male side is the spear side. More…
fouette – A spectacular pirouette in which the ballerina whips her raised leg around in an eggbeater motion while spinning on the other leg. More…
squadron – Borrowed from Italian squadrone, from Latin quadrare, “square”; the sense of “military group” comes from an earlier “square formation of troops.” More…
campaign – First meant an open tract of land, from Latin campus, “level ground,” and the change to a military meaning came from troops “taking the field”—moving from fortress or town to open country—from which the political sense evolved, referring to the organized efforts of office-seekers to sway public opinion or influence their vote at an upcoming election. More…
echelon – Comes from French echelle, “ladder,” from Latin scala, and first meant a formation of troops. More…
corporal – Its military meaning came from “the head of a body of troops,” from French caporale. More…
diffuse – Based on Latin diffundere, “pour out,” from fundere, “pour,” it means “to spread out.” More…
geyser – From Icelandic Geysir, “hot spring,” from Old Norse geysa, “pour or rush forth.” More…
refund – First meant “pour back,” and comes from Latin re- and fundere. More…
gluck, glug – Gluck or glug is the light repetitive gurgling sound of liquid being poured from a bottle. More…
lamb – In Gothic times, lamb was used for “adult sheep” as well as “baby sheep.” More…
rack of lamb – A roast of the rib section of lamb. More…
shepherd’s pie – Got its name from the meat it originally contained—lamb or mutton. More…
white meat – The pale meat of poultry, rabbit, or veal; red meat is from beef or lamb. More…
arctic – Comes from the ancient Greeks’ word for north, arktikos, literally “of the bear”; arctic should be pronounced AHRK-tik. More…
above – Traces back to Old English bove, first meaning “north” and later taking the meaning of “overhead.” More…
true north – North according to the earth’s axis, not magnetic north. More…
cold – When the moon is far to the north, it is popularly called a cold moon. More…
paddle – An aquatic animal’s flipper can also be called a paddle—as can the foot of a duck or the wing of a penguin. More…
patrol – Comes from a French word meaning “paddle about in the mud.” More…
rudder – First meant “paddle” or “oar.” More…
float – The boards and paddle of a waterwheel or paddlewheel are the floats. More…
vertical tasting – Wine tasting in order of year of vintage. More…
lateral thinking, vertical thinking – Lateral thinking is illogical; vertical thinking is logical. More…
ordinate, abscissa – The ordinate or Y axis is vertical; the abscissa or X axis is horizontal. More…
vertical integration – The merging of companies that are within the chain of companies that handle a single item from raw material production to retail sale. More…
dream catcher – A decorative Native American object in the form of a hoop and net with attachments such as feathers. More…
net – As in “without deductions,” it came from French net, “neat,” and then evolved to mean” free from any (further) deduction.” More…
reticule – An older term for a small handbag, it alludes to the fact that they were originally made of netted fabric—Latin rete, “net,” became reticulum, “netted bag.” More…
retina – From Latin rete, “net,” as there is a net of nerves making up this layer of the eyeball. More…
organ – Comes from Latin organum, from Greek oganon, “implement, instrument, tool”; it was first a very general term, but was then used for “wind instrument” and “functional part of the body.” More…
poop – Once had the meaning “to make an abrupt sound, as from a wind instrument.” More…
bell – The flared open end of a wind instrument. More…
tootle – To toot continuously, as notes on a wind instrument. More…