have – Coming through Proto-Germanic khaben, it was from Indo-European kap-, meaning “possession.” More…
jouisance – Also spelled jouissance, it is another word for “enjoyment” or “possession or use of something.” More…
tenement – First meant “holding as a possession.” More…
white elephant – The name of this animal, which has an enormous appetite, has come to mean “useless, expensive possession”—or a possession that is more trouble than it is worth. More…
rule the roost – Was first “rule the roast,” as it referred to the master of the house who sat at the head of the table. More…
steak – Seems to be related to Old Norse steikja, “roast on a spit,” and stikna, “be roasted.” More…
dry roast – To roast without oils. More…
rotisserie – First meant a restaurant or shop specializing in roasted or barbecued meat. More…
coy, quiet – Coy and quiet derive from Latin quietus, “at rest, in repose,” with coy coming from the Old French form coi (earlier quei), and quiet coming straight from Latin; the original sense of coy was “quiet, still.” More…
conticent – If something is hushed or quiet, it is conticent. More…
q.t. – An abbreviation for “quiet,” as in, on the q.t. (or QT). More…
wildtrack, room tone – The wildtrack or room tone consists of the barely audible noises that make up a background sense of quiet. More…
hopscotch – A game in which one must “hop” over the lines scratched in the ground; scotch means “scratched” or “to score.” It was once called hop-score. More…
Apgar score – A measure of a baby’s wellbeing that takes into account respiratory effort, skin color, heart rate, muscle tone, and sense of smell—named for American anesthetist Virginia Apgar. More…
earned run – In baseball, a run scored without the aid of errors by the opposing team’s fielders. More…
points in the paint – Refers to basketball points scored from within the free-throw lane. More…
fishplate – A type of metal plate used to strengthen a joint (from fish, meaning “mend”). More…
seam – Etymologically, a joint made by sewing. More…
ankylosis – Stiffness or immobility in a joint. More…
arthralgia, arthritis – Arthralgia is pain in a joint, from Greek arthron, “joint,” which also gives us the word arthritis. More…
on one’s high horse – At one time, knights, kings, and other VIPs rode on chargers, while ladies and others rode on smaller saddle horses, begetting the phrase “on one’s high horse.” More…
full tilt – Meaning “full speed,” it is from the encounter at full gallop of knights in a tilt (lance combat). More…
arithmetic progression – A sequence in which each term is obtained by the addition of a constant number to the preceding term, as 1, 4, 7, 10, 13. More…
initialism, alphabetism, acronym – Initialisms (sometimes called alphabetisms) are formed from the initial letters of a string of words and are pronounced as a sequence of letters, e.g. BYOB, USA, DVD. Acronyms are formed from the initial letters or parts of words in a sequence, but have the distinction of being pronounceable words, e.g. RADAR, SCUBA. More…
solfeggio, gamut – Solfeggio and gamut are words formed on the sequence of musical notes. More…
generic word – One referring to a commercial product, formerly a brand name that is no longer protected by trademark. More…
patent leather – Got its name from the U.S. Patent Office, as the leather’s finish was once protected by patent. More…
shelter – May come from Middle English sheltron, a body of troops that protected itself in battle with a covering of joined shields. More…
patron – Derives from Latin patronus, which means “protector of clients” or “defender.” More…
bar code – Includes code terms for the country of manufacture, the manufacturer, and the type of product—a combination specific enough to ordinarily identify any product. More…
arsenal – From Arabic dar al sindah, meaning “workshop for art, manufacture,” it was originally used in English to mean “naval dock” or workshops for making ships and arms. More…
forge – Comes from Latin fabrica, “trade, workshop” or “fabric,” and it first meant “smithy” or “manufacture.” More…
light industry – The manufacture of small or light articles. More…
sneb – A reprimand or a snub. More…
avert – Etymologically, it means “to turn away”: blows can be averted, but not pain; a snub can be averted, but not a humiliation; violence can be averted, but not damage. More…
cold shoulder – This term for a snub started when people overstayed their welcome and were served cold beef shoulder, rather than hot food. More…
snouch – To snouch someone is to snub or treat with scorn. More…