Word of the Day #48: Destinesia

Destinesia: to reach your destination only to forget why you were going there in the first place. Destinesia is a portmanteau word.  It is a combination of destination and amnesia.   Amnesia, in case you have forgotten, is a word meaning forgetfulness. I’ve been...

Word of the Day #47: Webinar

Webinar Webinar is a portmanteau word I hear every weekday morning.  Every time I turn on GoToWebinar, I hear, “Welcome to the Webinar.” A webinar is an online presentation.  The word is a combination of “World Wide Web” and “seminar.”  Web is from the Old English...

Word of the Day #40: Criticize

Criticize: to find fault; to point out flaws real or perceived   I took some time off for Christmas and New Year.  No one criticized me.  Pretty impressive, guys.  You could be nicer than you think you are.   Criticize comes from the Greek word χριτιχός (kritikos)...

Word of the Day# 39: Eggnog

This week, one of my students translated egg nog into French.  She ended up with the phrase: lait de poule. Lait is French for milk, and poule is French for hen.  Put the two together and you get, “hen milk”.   Um.  This threw me for a loop.  I started wondering,...

Word of the Day #38: Truckle

Truckle: to yield out of weakness Most of us know what a trundle bed is.  In case you don’t, a trundle bed is a low bed on wheels.  When not in use trundle beds slide beneath other beds.   Evidently, in some places, trundle beds are truckle beds.  Truckle comes from...

Word of the Day #37: Ham

Ever wondered why some cities have ‘ham’ attached to their names? Birmingham, Nottingham, Gotham, Buckingham, and even Hampshire? The Old English word for home or homestead is ‘ham.’  ‘Ham’ is also the source of our English word ‘home.’ As the three little pigs said,...