Category: Word Trivia

reverse

wood engraving – Essentially the reverse of a woodcut. More…

contrary, converse, opposite, reverse – Contrary describes something that contradicts a proposition, converse is used when the elements of a proposition are reversed, opposite pertains to that which is diametrically opposed to a proposition, and reverse can mean each of those. More…

obverse, reverse – The side of a coin or medal with the main design is the obverse (head) and the other is the reverse (tail). More…

vice versa – An adverb, it is a Latin phrase, literally, “the position being reversed; inturned position.” More…

waste

wastrel – Pronounced WAYS-trul, it is either a wasteful or worthless person, derived from the verb “waste,” from Latin vastus, “desert, waste.” More…

bratwurst – From German Brat, “meat without waste,” and Wurst, “sausage.” More…

eat your heart out – Goes back as far as Diogenes Laertius, who credited Pythagoras with saying “Do not eat your heart”—meaning “Don’t waste your life worrying about something”—2,500 years ago. More…

sullage – Waste from household sinks, showers, and baths—but not toilets; it also figuratively means filth or refuse. More…

summit

colophon – A crowning or finishing touch, from Greek kolophon, “summit” or “finishing stroke.” More…

knoll – The summit or rounded top of a mountain or hill, it seems to derive from Old Teutonic knoo-lo, meaning “ball, clod, knot.” More…

acrobat – Derived from Greek akrobatos, “walking on tiptoe,” from Greek akron, “summit,” and baino, “walk.” More…

knap – The crest or summit of a hill. More…

storehouse

magazine – Considered a “storehouse” for articles; the word comes from Arabic makhzan, “storehouse,” and was first used in book titles presenting a “store” of information about specific topics. More…

ambry – Another word for a treasury, storehouse, place to keep things. More…

garner – Originally a storehouse or granary. More…

thesaurus – Comes from Greek thesauros, meaning “storehouse, treasury,” and its original sense was “dictionary or encyclopedia,” but this was narrowed to the current meaning with the appearance of Roget’s in 1852. More…

stall

loge – A booth or stall; also a box in a theatre. More…

cage – Came to English from Latin cavea, “enclosure for animals; coop, hive, or stall”—or “dungeon.” More…

install – Its earliest sense was “place in office by seating in a stall or official seat,” from Old French estaler, “to place,” from estal, “place.” More…

pedestal – Comes from Old Italian piedestallo, a conflation of pie de stallo, “foot of a stall.” More…

poison

alexipharmic – Another word for an antidote, from Greek alexein, “ward off,” and pharmakon, “poison.” More…

toxic – Comes from Greek toxikon pharmakon, “poison for arrows,” from toxon, “bow.” More…

venom – Comes from Latin venenum, the love potion Venus used to attract people to each other—but later came to describe “poison.” More…

virus – A Latin word meaning “poison” or “slimy liquid,” it first meant “venom of a snake.” More…

kick

coup de savate – A kick with the flat of the foot. More…

Gaelic football – A rough, football-like game mainly played in Ireland with 15 players to each side with the object of punching, dribbling, or kicking the ball into a goal. More…

punt, bunt – Punt, as in “kick,” may be from bunt, “push,” used in baseball to mean “hit the ball softly.” More…

kick, punt – The dent in the bottom of a wine or champagne bottle is the kick or punt. More…