Etymologie, Etimología, Étymologie, Etimologia, Etymology, (griech.) etymología, (lat.) etymologia, (esper.) etimologio
US Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika, Estados Unidos de América, États-Unis d'Amérique, Stati Uniti d'America, United States of America, (esper.) Unuigintaj Statoj de Ameriko
eXterne Wortlisten, (esper.) eksteruloj vortlistoj
XTOWFI - Take our Word for it - www.takeourword.com

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takeourword.com
XTOWFI
Take our Word for it - www.takeourword.com

• "Words to the Wise" beantwortet Leserfragen
• "Spotlight" untersucht die Herkunft von englischen Wörtern
• "The Etymology Book Store" stellt neue Bücher vor
• "Laughing Stock" bietet lustige Zitate

It started as a Q&A site regarding etymology, and it grew into a weekly, then monthly (then never) webzine.

• Issue, No. 210
• Spotlight
• Words to the Wise
• Curmudgeons' Corner
• Sez You...
• Laughing Stock

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XTOWFI
Take our Word for it - www.takeourword.com

BACK ISSUES

• Issue 209
• Spotlight Nitrogen
• Words to the Wise sterling, ponder, willy nilly, yahoo, The Old Bill
• 1/24/09
• Curmudgeons' Corner Guestmudgeon Nelson is old enough to know the difference
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Glorious insults
• Issue 208
• Spotlight How to speak Arabic - and not know it
• Words to the Wise cool beans, Mass, scoop (journalism), out of pocket, yeehaw
• 10/30/06
• Curmudgeons' Corner Guestmudgeon Robert has some issues...er...problems
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock No one is above suspicion
• Issue 207
• Spotlight Sensational Etymologies
• Words to the Wise poodle, beagle, corgi, Pomeranian, mastiff
• 10/14/06
• Curmudgeons' Corner Between her and you
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock "Engrish" from Thailand
• Issue 206
• Spotlight Saints and days
• Words to the Wise damn your eyes/the torpedoes, at sixes and sevens/nines, abigail, upshot
• 9/19/06
• Curmudgeons' Corner Several Pet Peeves
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Things that make you say, "Hmmmm!"
• Issue 205
• Words to the Wise hussy, puma/cougar/mountain lion, daftar, fixing
• 8/31/06
• Curmudgeons' Corner Several Pet Peeves
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Things that make you say, "Hmmmm!"
• Issue 204
• Spotlight Clouds
• Words to the Wise bootylicious, ye, bouillon/bullion, riding the rail
• 3/15/06
• Curmudgeons' Corner Back Off
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Restrooms and Physiology
• Issue 203
• Spotlight Drawing (or Drawring, if you like!)
• Words to the Wise ings, dumpling, pee, pecan
• 2/28/06
• Curmudgeons' Corner Curmudgeon Malcolm Tent is almost hysterical over historical
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock New breeds of dog
• Issue 202
• Spotlight The Danes
• Words to the Wise the @ sign, sir, sign (singular), cob (steal)
• 2/14/06
• Curmudgeons' Corner Guestmudgeon Lynn Nordhagen hates it when people pour...
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Head Start to Misspelling?
• Issue 201
• Spotlight The Outdoors
• Words to the Wise individual, The Who members' surnames, blog, mercaptan
• 1/30/06
• Curmudgeons' Corner Curmudgeon Malcolm Tent gets it to a T
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock The MENSA Invitational?
• Issue 200
• Spotlight Embrace Your Braces
• Words to the Wise hybrid, mule, bush league, sage, bigot
• 1/15/06
• Curmudgeons' Corner Guestmudgeon Terry Berg complains about enverbing nouns
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock What about the 22th and 23th floors?
• Issue 199
• Spotlight Herbs and Spices
• Words to the Wise fence, kid/kidding, human/man, pope
• 4/1/05
• Curmudgeons' Corner Guestmudgeon Joseph Chiaravalloti notes that someone suffers from homophonophobia
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Wanna Get Fired?
• Issue 198
• Spotlight Fruits of Summer
• Words to the Wise nunnery, jaguar, yogurt, crank call, hominy
• 3/1/05
• Curmudgeons' Corner Guestmudgeon Riflaum is hurtling over hurdles
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock The Annual Neologism Contest
• Issue 197
• Spotlight Native American Peoples' Names
• Words to the Wise cleave, swag/shwag/schwag, the letter z, repair (go), before
• 2/6/05
• Curmudgeons' Corner Guestmudgeon Jim Ross is enormously tired of enormity
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Why People in Florida Lock their Doors
• Issue 196
• Spotlight Pet Names
• Words to the Wise trump, k, embarass, surname Sellers
• 1/10/05
• Curmudgeons' Corner Curmudgeon Barb Dwyer is still alive and kicking: the verbs pore vs. pour
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Fall Flashback
• Issue 195
• Spotlight Middle Earth (an encore presentation)
• Words to the Wise (another encore presentation) bitch, volcano, pizza, kangaroo
• 1/10/04
• Curmudgeons' Corner Guestmudgeon Mike P would like you to tend to be logical
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Ebay Has It All!
• Issue 194
• Spotlight Literary Devices
• Words to the Wise smidgen, abominable, to pine, hustle
• 1/10/04
• Curmudgeons' Corner Guestmudgeon Daleen Coorts should of complained, and did
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Who ARE you for, then?
• Issue 193
• Spotlight More Shaky Etymology
• Words to the Wise shebang, in spades, coon's age, toolies
• 10/23/03
• Curmudgeons' Corner Guestmudgeon Dean Moblo thinks he might as well complain about
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock A Momentous Oil Change
• Issue 192
• Spotlight Streaming
• Words to the Wise fallow (color), nouns as adjectives, say cheese, toile
• 10/9/03
• Curmudgeons' Corner Guesmudgeon Jean Jacobi has NEVER been a jewelry store
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Non Campus Mentis
• Issue 191
• Spotlight Phrases/Clichés that begin with C
• Words to the Wise your goose is cooked, augur, kelly (oil drilling term), beat around the bush
• 9/23/03
• Curmudgeons' Corner Malcolm Tent gives an example of what he's been talking about all along
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock The Phaomnneel Pweor of the Hmuan Mnid
• Issue 190
• Spotlight Life in the 1500s Revisited
• Words to the Wise fraught, jimmy, you have your work cut out for you, boss
• 9/11/03
• Curmudgeons' Corner Guestmudgeon Dick Timberlake will zeroscape YOU if you don't pronounce xeriscape correctly!
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Good Eating
• Issue 189
• Spotlight England
• Words to the Wise pit, Totley, no holds barred, Moor
• 8/12/03
• Curmudgeons' Corner This Guestmudgeon is a potentially dangerous pedant
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Mating on the House Floor?
• Issue 188
• Spotlight California Placenames
• Words to the Wise step-, Beijing, cold (illness), twiddle (your thumbs), worrywart
• 7/15/03
• Curmudgeons' Corner A Guestmudgeon may show her might
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock How to get a ticket
• Issue 187
• Spotlight Animal groups
• Words to the Wise pup tent, poop deck, goggles, itch, pallbearer
• 7/2/03
• Curmudgeons' Corner A Jeopardy Fan?
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Fun with Excision!
• Issue 186
• Spotlight book
• Words to the Wise the penny dropped, grabbling, thin as a rail, take a gander, quarter horse
• 6/17/03
• Curmudgeons' Corner Frying beans twice?
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock The Perfect Computer and Software
• Issue 185
• Spotlight swell words
• Words to the Wise spider, corny, sham, ceremony, blonde
• 6/3/03
• Curmudgeons' Corner Everyday Usage
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock The Cowboy's Ten Commandments
• Issue 184
• Spotlight opera and manure, the facts at last
• Words to the Wise cracket, bazooka, ornery, leeward, ticked off, digs
• 5/20/03
• Curmudgeons' Corner Validation
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock That's Nice, Bacchus!
• Issue 183
• Spotlight vets
• Words to the Wise ass, jacuzzi, jar, hoar-frost, hear a pin drop
• 5/6/03
• Curmudgeons' Corner Loose usage
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock New Vocabulary
• Issue 182
• Spotlight consonant shifts
• Words to the Wise separate/apart, bulldog, acorn/oak, redskin
• 4/22/03
• Curmudgeons' Corner Barb Dwyer is a friend of mine
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock The First Time's Always the Worst
• Issue 181
• Spotlight cups, coops, hoops and heaps
• Words to the Wise mullet (hairdo), Alabama, sorrow, villain, Parthian/parting shot
• 4/8/03
• Curmudgeons' Corner Guestmudgeon Jake Cuttler isn't notorious - yet
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Comments on Iraq by Late Nighters
• Issue 180
• Spotlight shocking, awful use of words
• Words to the Wise harbinger, tea towel, holy mackerel, doc, frog
• 3/24/03
• Curmudgeons' Corner Guestmudgeon Roland Bogush got out of the wrong side of the bed today
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Slow Children at Play
• Issue 179
• Spotlight charge
• Words to the Wise forgive, hail, propaganda, fly by night
• 3/10/03
• Curmudgeons' Corner Barb wants to serve herself better
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Hu's on First
• Issue 178
• Spotlight plural diseases
• Words to the Wise belay, gazebo, cotton to, bedraggled
• 12/9/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner between Scylla to Charybdis
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock The Thermondynamics of Hell revisited
• Issue 177
• Spotlight going out of our gourds
• Words to the Wise casus belli, gone/fallen by the wayside, rendezvous, fire (sack)
• 11/17/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner the I's don't have it
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock The Thermondynamics of Hell
• Issue 176
• Spotlight The Zodiac
• Words to the Wise shareware, where have all the _____ gone?, sweetbreads, shark
• 11/10/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner Suicide bombers
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock What happens when National Lampoon gets a hold of Desiderata

• Issue 175
• Spotlight Halloween
• Words to the Wise mosque, desire
• 10/20/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner Redundancy and repetition (and redundancy)
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock What happens when pumpkins eat too much candy on Halloween
• Issue 174
• Spotlight More Bird Words
• Words to the Wise sniper, camouflage, crab apple, cole slaw, bogey,
• 10/13/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner Our guestmudgeon just thinks
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Which is better?
• Issue 173
• Spotlight Bird Words
• Words to the Wise undead, murder of crows, moratorium, keep your eyes peeled, squiz, marquis, fishy/suspicious
• 10/13/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner Shirt and shoes required
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Perhaps these people should not be telling us about problems!
• Issue 172
• Spotlight intestinal fortitude
• Words to the Wise stream of consciousness, in/out of the loop, turmeric, asparagus, scissors
• 10/6/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner "French" bread
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock A few silly (or scary) signs
• Issue 171
• Spotlight complexions and beauty
• Words to the Wise grits, jaded, business
• 9/29/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner I wonder
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock If this were a real emergency...
• Issue 170
• Spotlight ants
• Words to the Wise marshmallow, liberal arts, browbeat, Mecca, cyclone
• 9/14/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner who that?
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock a bunch of groaners
• Issue 169
• Spotlight plates
• Words to the Wise cloak and dagger, Brooklyn, land of nod, slum, née
• 9/9/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner a suit in a suite
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock
• mike@0
• Issue 168
• Spotlight pipes
• Words to the Wise godown, adventure, flapjack, Phillips screw/screwdriver, by George
• 9/2/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner a tack
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock I am called a Princess
• Issue 167
• Spotlight a mouthful
• Words to the Wise arrow, pirate, to boot, go ape/apesh*t, brickle, scrutinize
• 8/24/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner disconcertion
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock the "Wisdom" of George Carlin
• Issue 166
• Spotlight brightness
• Words to the Wise togs, rummage sale, say uncle, I should cocoa, the jig is up
• 8/16/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner up to one complaint or more!
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock fear of flying
• Issue 165
• Spotlight very little
• Words to the Wise the powers that be, skoal, trench coat, costs an arm and a leg, folderol, seaboard
• 8/9/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner not available in all areas
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock smoked beef rectum
• Issue 164
• Spotlight carrying on
• Words to the Wise yikes, the birds and the bees, jack-o'lantern, aficionado, daylight robbery, Malay/malaise
• 8/2/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner quite literally
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Stoopid Peeple
• Issue 163
• Spotlight singletons
• Words to the Wise riled up, worry, hogwash, stick in the mud, good-bye, agonist, gentleman
• 7/26/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner critique
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock Slippery sheep!
• Issue 162
• Spotlight heat
• Words to the Wise gumshoe, syphilis, swan song, zit, nugget
• 7/11/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner laxadaisical [sic]
• Letters to the Editors various
• Laughing Stock They've got a funny accent!
• Issue 161
• Spotlight muses
• Words to the Wise pshaw, tattoo, pot shots, garage, lagniappe
• 6/28/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner longing for shorter words
• Letters to the Editors Old Dart, qualifying absolutes, quarantine in the Bible, Latin plurals, dreckly (directly), to no end?, man words, alittle alot, ESL (and other) errors, cotton on to cotton, Jewish haikus source, more quarters, more aggravation, more lambaste
• Laughing Stock Decisions, decisions!
• Issue 160
• Spotlight quarters
• Words to the Wise on the lam, quarters, [death] throes, men in female terms, indigenous
• 6/20/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner disembarking
• Letters to the Editors curses, oaths, etc., dosh again, presently, irregardless and unique, more enfeebled verbs, America from the Templars?, different from, than or to?
• Laughing Stock Striking faces (ouch!)
• Issue 159
• Spotlight swinging in the hammock
• Words to the Wise cult and occult, inventory and invent, Jesus Christ, fiddle sticks
• 6/13/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner available to avail
• Letters to the Editors TOWFI serendipity, fond memories, cockney, doughnuts in Dallas, more doughnuts, actually about actually, defective detective, unmentionables, terminology
• Laughing Stock Jewish mothers' haiku
• Issue 158
• Spotlight getting lost in the dictionary
• Words to the Wise choad and qif, diaspora, brown nose, doughnut
• 5/16/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner restaurant-speak
• Letters to the Editors impacted, push-back, highway-speak, actually, Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway, fan mail
• Laughing Stock More news
• Issue 157
• Spotlight now
• Words to the Wise anal retentive, bangs, diaper, jackdaw, best thing since sliced bread
• 5/9/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner what was your name?
• Letters to the Editors cricket, back to boxty, yet more on highways and definite articles, Normans, nouns to verbs, Old English in the Bible, a link
• Laughing Stock The News
• Issue 156
• Spotlight damn foreigners
• Words to the Wise grocer/gross, reckless/wreck, English history, boxty, [what in] Sam Hill
• 5/2/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner nouns as verbs
• Letters to the Editors much more on definite articles and highway names, sign language, six ways from Sunday, we asked for it
• Laughing Stock The $25 car
• Issue 155
• Spotlight Where the wild things are
• Words to the Wise buck/butt naked, purlieu, dogsbody,
• 4/25/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner ten years ago...
• Letters to the Editors Germans on "Berliner", hell bent for leather revisited, classical plurals again, to input or not, vending one's spleen, definite articles and highway names
• Laughing Stock A hostile hostel?
• Issue 154
• Spotlight h-e-double-hocky-sticks
• Words to the Wise hell bent for leather, Pyrrhic victory, philanderer, rathskeller
• 4/18/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner input/inputted
• Letters to the Editors love apples, tomatoes, garlic, road apples, lobscouse, blind scouse, alumni, classical plurals, more berliner, irony, the last words on eggplant
• Laughing Stock Venting [one's] spleen
• Issue 153
• Spotlight apples
• Words to the Wise take to task, peruse, celestial, kiln
• 4/11/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner the state of Classical education
• Letters to the Editors New Zealand slang; more "shorten and add y"; speccy; poor Margaret, espresso, pommy, more terms for "u-turn", congradulations, more congradulations, yet more congradulations, Berliner, more inhabitant terms, scouse, Teeries, Ramsbottom
• Laughing Stock A serious health hazard
• Issue 152
• Spotlight inhabitants
• Words to the Wise john (toilet), awhile, espresso, pom/pommy
• 4/4/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner congradulate the gratuates
• Letters to the Editors censorship and other stuff; Australian vernacular; Laughing Stock; clichés, dashboard, curmudgeon merge
• Laughing Stock Another groaner
• Issue 151
• Spotlight Personal matters (oh me, oh my!)
• Words to the Wise renaissance, Virgin Islands
• 3/29/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner expressing espresso
• Letters to the Editors might could; shorten and add y; fubar revisited; boogers again, dashboard, phrase coinage, *skep-
• Laughing Stock Aaaaack!

• Issue 150
• Spotlight cutting, hacking and scraping
• Words to the Wise charleyhorse, cloth, coined the phrase, spats, dashboard
• 3/22/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner coining phrases
• Letters to the Editors the N word; the N word again; orris root; more on The Women's Dictionary
• Laughing Stock More groaners (puns)
• Issue 149
• Spotlight Middle Earth
• Words to the Wise hymen/hymn, booger/bogy, alewife, happy hour, snafu
• 3/15/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner
• Letters to the Editors puns continue; enjoying TOWFI; sitar and guitar; thank you
• Laughing Stock A woman's dictionary
• Issue 148
• Spotlight The fundamentals
• Words to the Wise America, shamus, radical, logphile/philologist, synecdoche
• 3/7/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner What he said
• Letters to the Editors crossing fingers; ID id; eurology; altar horns; corners; perch pun; punctuation, more IDs , words, in connection with
• Laughing Stock very punny again!
• Issue 147
• Spotlight horns, corns and corners
• Words to the Wise Mrs., cross your fingers, divide and conquer, silkie
• 1/23/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner those that
• Letters to the Editors the; more au jus; various topics; Cretan/cretin; spicy; á la mode; euronating, definitions
• Laughing Stock very punny!
• Issue 146
• Spotlight Dwellings
• Words to the Wise bitch, volcano, pizza, kangaroo
• 1/16/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner coulda been a contender
• Letters to the Editors daemon's evolution; more au jus; more on rabbits; more misacronyms; golf again; more on peppers; huh?
• Laughing Stock sounds increditable to us
• Issue 145
• Spotlight More Hot stuff
• Words to the Wise take the Mickey, whipping boy, Welsh rarebit/rabbit, seven seas
• 1/9/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner on a basis
• Letters to the Editors hot words, giddy up; Gilbert and Sullivan; several points; misunderstood clichés; Aunty Curmudgeon; he's disorientated; golf again
• Laughing Stock Where excellence is not an option
• Issue 144
• Spotlight Hot stuff
• Words to the Wise haw and gee, trauma
• 1/2/02
• Curmudgeons' Corner and etcetera
• Letters to the Editors intensive purposes, jigs; yogh; more on church; malapropisms; Old English reindeer; article abuse
• Laughing Stock Camping in water
• Holiday Issue
• Spotlight Holiday Words (from a previous issue)
• Words to the Wise rain check, pray/prayer, pagan, church, reindeer/caribou
• 12/19/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner for all intensive purposes?
• Letters to the Editors Tagalog, Tagalog two; Tagalog three; an old octopus revisited; Richardsnary; Wynn
• Laughing Stock No parking, indeed!
• Issue 143
• Spotlight cant
• Words to the Wise investment, consonant and vowel, -ber, get the hell out of Dodge
• 12/12/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner flaunt vs. flount
• Letters to the Editors corundum, Tagalog plurals; Scottish pronunciation; lost letters and Gaul; French/Welsh; more on Gaul; double laugh; Icelandic license plate; Websense makes sense; Russian in number
• Laughing Stock Are they slow, or should we slow?
• Issue 142
• Spotlight lost letters
• Words to the Wise pornography, Gaul, aa, quenelle
• 11/28/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner lay and lie
• Letters to the Editors Websense, Apostrophe Protection Society, Tagalog plurals; animated curmudgeon, red and mimimum?, bad syntax, Mother Goose in French (sort of), human and earth in Hebrew
• Laughing Stock large women and manual automatic doors
• Issue 141
• Spotlight gemstones again
• Words to the Wise called on the carpet, odds, sport, human
• 11/14/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner who's at work
• Letters to the Editors collective vs. plural nouns, translation, please, keeping up with the back issues
• Laughing Stock how is that supposed to work?
• Issue 140
• Spotlight gemstones
• Words to the Wise red letter day, Farsi, wave, pickle
• 11/8/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner more better
• Letters to the Editors collective nouns, more on mondegreens, death and the sickle, "better" dictionary, they're just wrong
• Laughing Stock but how could he fit in there?
• Issue 139
• Spotlight evil
• Words to the Wise goblin, cemetery, zombie, ectoplasm
• 10/31/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner sentence adverbs
• Letters to the Editors very punny, waffling about wlaffe, wl- pronunciantion, no, not more fonts!, spooling Miss Steaks, go slow and read it slowly, responses, more merry malapropisms, Arabic anthrax
• Laughing Stock How does one close a waterfall?
• Issue 138
• Spotlight wl...
• Words to the Wise anthrax, afghan, coach, midnight oil
• 10/24/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Losing -ly
• Letters to the Editors German bonza, curmudgeonly pride, renege spelling, bad or missing links, spell check verse, wl- words, malapropisms, Cantonese
• Laughing Stock Well, which is it?
• Issue 137
• Spotlight Topical Items
• Words to the Wise renege/renegue, discombobulate, bonzer/bonza, midwife
• 10/17/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Jive for jibe, tact for tack, etc.
• Letters to the Editors Notarikon in Hebrew, language links, problems with page two, cats and dogs, Hebrew and Persian, Aunty Curmudgeon, hats and cattle, Ali quotation, how to fix font problems, browser environment and back issue snags, wl- words, quadratic help, mnemonics and a joke
• Laughing Stock Must've been a very long tendon
• Issue 136
• Spotlight Arabs, Afghans, Muslims and Islan
• Words to the Wise muggles, notarikon, roster, tilting at windmills, all fur, no nickers
• 10/3/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner A regime of regimens
• Letters to the Editors Peachy and more, more peaches, possessives, more data, Richard Lederer sez..., spelling stumpers, Boxing Day, more on font problems, infamous Isabella, metonym?, mistakes, curmudgeons and anti-curmudgeons, we're ok
• Laughing Stock How to give a pill to a cat
• Issue 135
• Spotlight The West End of London, Dukes, and Eponyms
• Words to the Wise bank holiday, contractions, just deserts, idiot, Eskimo
• 8/28/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner The data are in
• Letters to the Editors It's not genitive, ginger peachy keen, tera, zetta and yotta, TOWFI display fonts, tough ones to spell, I/me usage
• Laughing Stock Now how many doughnuts is that?
• Issue 134
• Spotlight Our Garden (again)
• Words to the Wise stock still, petabyte/terabyte/exabyte, mortgage, minutes, wrong side of the tracks
• 8/15/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Me me me or I I I?
• Letters to the Editors A rhetorical question, a font of fonts, refreshing the site, Lucy, Utah's seagulls, Soylent Green/Soilent Green, difficult to spell
• Laughing Stock See water. See water run!
• Issue 133
• Spotlight Notes from our garden
• Words to the Wise deep six, consulate/embassy, tapas, teenager, biscuit/bisquit
• 8/8/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Insured assurance
• Letters to the Editors Back issue issue, logic vs. evidence, hell in a handbasket I, hell in a handbasket II, gruntle
• Laughing Stock Sweeney Todd redux
• Issue 132
• Spotlight On the Money
• Words to the Wise earshot/hark/hearken, midget/dwarf, Suffolk Punch, monk, meander
• 8/1/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Looking forward
• Letters to the Editors More Topica, begging rhetoric, our search engine, Dutch correction
• Laughing Stock Proofreed your ads
• Issue 131
• Spotlight Bad Etymologist! No Biscuit!
• Words to the Wise double dog dare, steward, g-string, (run) amok
• 7/25/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Beg the question
• Letters to the Editors Redundant redundancy, shanghaied again, thanks, so punny, apostrophemania, Palm OS dictionaries
• Laughing Stock Nobody cares about Mom?
• Issue 130
• Spotlight English Ancestry (a repeat of a previous column)
• Words to the Wise throw one's hat into the ring, mistletoe, Hip hip! Hurray!, hold (down) the fort, blue blood
• 7/18/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Irritatingly redundant
• Letters to the Editors Meanings vs. etymology, several comments, Kilkenny cats, Topica vs. Listbot, Old Testament child-rearing, jazz revisited
• Laughing Stock The true meaning of words (?!)
• Issue 129
• Spotlight Animation
• Words to the Wise Manhattan, rebel, shanghai, daemon, cardinal
• 7/10/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Digitally recorded error
• Letters to the Editors New mailing list, southern hemisphere readers unite!, Peter Pan an etymologist?, all monds, ah-monds, Anglo-centric views?, cats is cats, jewfish no more, Persian in Hebrew
• Laughing Stock A w(h)ine joke
• Issue 128
• Spotlight Cats
• Words to the Wise caught red-handed, factotum, scrod, crayon, on tenterhooks
• 6/26/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner An L of a time
• Letters to the Editors Offensive Engrish?, more flies, Persian influence, uptalk, ichthyetymology, more eggs and plants
• Laughing Stock The birth of a word
• Issue 127
• Spotlight Nightmares, death and monsters
• Words to the Wise jewfish, scoop, natty, fly (zipper), gestalt
• 6/19/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner heighth?
• Letters to the Editors eggplant in Hindi and German, more would, Texan for W, more for Macs, more on merkin, old oxenfree
• Laughing Stock what happens when you use an online translator
• Issue 126
• Spotlight Merkins, grimalkins, and Maid Marians
• Words to the Wise attorney, joy, vice-/vise, aubergine, Mexico
• 6/12/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Guess what?
• Letters to the Editors fahrt, book in Engrish, Getafix, dogleg, petard
• Laughing Stock Ball removal

• Issue 125
• Spotlight Saturday
• Words to the Wise glamour, warlock, hysteria, yonder/iterations/reiterate, gams
• 6/5/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Holded up?
• Letters to the Editors Crisis in Language, fart, he found us!, Polish help, Wells Fargo
• Laughing Stock Dumfart
• Issue 124
• Spotlight Frequentatives
• Words to the Wise Dough, fart, hiccup, moot, piggyback
• 5/29/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Vegetarian chickens
• Letters to the Editors Poetry for Cats, French knee cognates, trunks and boots, Wells Fargo, not exactly macaronic, false friends , fletcher flowers, geranium vs. pelargonium
• Laughing Stock All Your Base Are Belong to Us
• Issue 123
• Spotlight Flow and fly
• Words to the Wise Trunk, smarmy, pay attention/ heed/ a visit, remote, knee
• 5/22/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Free for $19.95
• Letters to the Editors Loser, Latin poems, more Latin poems, yet more Latin poems, back issue format, Hindi and English
• Laughing Stock Hamlet's Cat Soliloquy
• Issue 122
• Spotlight Skirt, shirt, skit and shinola
• Words to the Wise pedigree, butter, green room, haywire, doula
• 5/15/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Nuptual?
• Letters to the Editors Latin poetry, more w, county, peppers and wolves, curmudgeoning in German
• Laughing Stock Mary Jane in Idaho
• Issue 121
• Spotlight rank
• Words to the Wise cash, hullabaloo, titanic, the letter y, the letter w
• 5/8/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner if I would have been
• Letters to the Editors Nova Scotia plural possessive, UFO a ufo?, Dubyonics, Huxley and Darwin, home in Catalan
• Laughing Stock A true story (though not etymological)
• Issue 120
• Spotlight dictionaryisms
• Words to the Wise agnostic, loophole, best man, tantalize, several
• 5/1/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Whatever and whenever
• Letters to the Editors humdinger, a French home, censorship, translations, other others, George III
• Laughing Stock Slow service?
• Issue 119
• Spotlight the following...
• Words to the Wise humdinger, dumbbell, scut, bulletin board, bend over backwards
• 4/24/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Who's ever
• Letters to the Editors gild the lily, I tell ye, f*ck and fight?, a TOWFI fix, more about nine yards, back issue format, juggernaut joke-or-not, anatomy of a barrel
• Laughing Stock Secrets Revealed
• Issue 118
• Spotlight Another one of those e-mails
• Words to the Wise lock, stock and barrel, juggernaut, high jinks, bun/hot cross bun
• 4/17/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Ironic isn't ironic anymore
• Letters to the Editors Ishtar, French gender, more Latin plurals, 10,000, spurious etymology, pepperpot, Spanish, and New Amsterdam
• Laughing Stock Yes + Yes = No?
• Issue 117
• Spotlight Compost
• Words to the Wise peter out, Buffalo/Ozarks, imp, sooterkin/zooterkins, lorry
• 3/13/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner Where have all the female words gone?
• Letters to the Editors Monday in Japanese, crocs of saffron, I'll give you 40 does for that saddle, Colombian gestures, two cents for a stadia rod, Spanish linguist to the rescue, going to the circus with Kate, more cat skinning
• Laughing Stock Don't call, it'll be gone by now
• Issue 116
• Spotlight days of the week...Wednesday
• Words to the Wise kudos, cobweb, conjugate, spring, more than one way to skin a cat
• 3/6/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner He's an-al and an-noyed
• Letters to the Editors Arabic Spanish, Honday in Mungarian, god words, dropping d's, broads, and broads again, evil apple pancakes, time travel, co-curmudgeons, battle-axitude, troopers and e-mail, Latin rules?, Christianity and Chinese
• Laughing Stock what a shocker
• Issue 115
• Spotlight days of the week...Tuesday
• Words to the Wise in the doldrums, Adam's apple, trooper/trouper, battle-axe, broad
• 2/27/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner It's a phenomena to myself
• Letters to the Editors Hungarian Mondays, more Albuquerque, what about the dunce cap?, more on couln'nt and prescriptivism
• Laughing Stock time travel
• Issue 114
• Spotlight days of the week...Monday
• Words to the Wise thalweg, Albuquerque, randy, josh, entree
• 2/20/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner couln'nt
• Letters to the Editors p's and q's, on curmudgeonry, whet your whistle?
• Laughing Stock lethal rolling pins
• Issue 113
• Spotlight netymology
• Words to the Wise easy as pie, crud, handle, yum/yummy, geoduck
• 2/13/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner a coal forecast
• Letters to the Editors brass monkey skeptics, monkeys on cruise liners, Finnish, morning star deities
• Laughing Stock Husbands and varmints
• Issue 112
• Spotlight table manners
• Words to the Wise cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, bring home the bacon/chew the fat, catapult, Russia, lame duck
• 2/6/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner piquing one's curiosity
• Letters to the Editors we helped, more Engrish, Hebrew for "morning star", git, spell checkers, more gender vs. sex, the -orama craze, scab revisited
• Laughing Stock What language does your dog speak?
• Issue 111
• Spotlight sticks and stones
• Words to the Wise quark, git, arrogant, alien, steal one's thunder
• 1/30/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner taking a peek at pique
• Letters to the Editors vegetarian derivation?, vegetarian joke, apt names, lingua franca, more eggnogs, more Engrish, Lucifer returns?, we can help, we can help Mac users, too
• Laughing Stock What language does your dog speak?
• Issue 110
• Spotlight whales
• Words to the Wise migraine, universe, eggnog, vegetarian, Torpenhow (hillhillhill)
• 1/23/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner this or next weekend?
• Letters to the Editors posh, this/next weekend, ghetto blaster, more on obfuscation, naked what?, welcome back, error policy
• Laughing Stock Engrish
• Issue 109
• Spotlight hogmanay
• Words to the Wise ghetto, winter, wuss, Sandwich (placename), gymnast
• 1/16/01
• Curmudgeons' Corner obfuscation
• Letters to the Editors correction, betel and beetle, more on this/next weekend, chads again, pot-luck, the nature of our curmudgeons, pot-latch
• Laughing Stock The Millenium Bug (well, it really IS the new millennium NOW)
• Issue 108
• Spotlight absolutely fabulous animals
• Words to the Wise beetling, pot-luck, manhandle, oyez oyez, horror
• 12/18/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner this or next weekend?
• Letters to the Editors chad, the OED, additions to our bibliography, dangling prepositions and British math
• Laughing Stock Discretion Advised When Upgrading
• Issue 107
• Spotlight elections (or, from chads to chaos in one letter)
• Words to the Wise spree, craven, dastardly, pusillanimous, o'clock, county, lickety-split
• 11/21/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner more whining from Malcolm Tent
• Letters to the Editors more second person plural and "W'all" - a double plural, a gracious apology, French etymology, final prepositions.
• Laughing Stock a notice of revocation...
• Issue 106
• Spotlight the days of the week: Sunday
• Words to the Wise fob, quadratic, Gordon Bennett, mess, davenport, chaise longue/lounge
• 11/14/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner Suzanne Carpenter says it alls
• Letters to the Editors more third person plural pronoun slang, Norse or Teutonic?, our letters policy, dingbat again, Italian divas
• Laughing Stock Phunny photos
• Issue 105
• Spotlight the days of the week continued
• Words to the Wise housewarming, tongue in cheek, hero, diva, frig
• 10/31/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner Suzanne Carpenter attempts to sway us with her y'all pitch
• Letters to the Editors Encyclopedia Britannica, avian literacy, drownded, dingbat, nor' by nor'west, you-uns, Olympic Scrabble,
• Laughing Stock Laws Concerning Food and Drink [by Ian Frazier]
• Issue 104
• Spotlight the days of the week
• Words to the Wise hunting pink, stool, foot, bereaved, cancer/Cancer
• 10/9/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner hyperhyphenation
• Letters to the Editors Issue 103's letters repeated [due to Mike being ill]
• Laughing Stock How I Met My Wife [by Jack Winter]
• Issue 103
• Spotlight the in- words
• Words to the Wise dingbat, inning, wine, on the wagon, rock and roll, hip hop
• 10/2/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner nemesis abuse
• Letters to the Editors Gore-y details, en-compass-ed, drownded, letter order, second-person plural
• Laughing Stock A Rhose By Any Other Name [by Matthew Sutherland]
• Issue 102
• Spotlight the Olympic games
• Words to the Wise letter order, loofah, dweomer, cobweb, pissant
• 9/25/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner bureaucratese
• Letters to the Editors youse, drownded, anyways
• Laughing Stock a parking restriction we can live with
• Issue 101
• Spotlight English words from Romany
• Words to the Wise trivia, be there with bells on, France, profession
• 9/18/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner anyways
• Letters to the Editors Ks, Chicago Tribune, more on hokey-pokey, tumped, quibbles and compliments
• Laughing Stock the doctor is in
• Issue 100
• Spotlight wee weighs of weight
• Words to the Wise hanky-panky and hokey-pokey, trot line, post haste, pompous, three sheets to the wind
• 9/11/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner US spelling
• Letters to the Editors More children's rhymes, hosey, Agent 99, braziers, sphagnum moss, St. Ambrose, heraldry,
• Laughing Stock "No Man is an Ireland" - political boners

• Issue 100
• Spotlight wee weighs of weight
• Words to the Wise hanky-panky and hokey-pokey, trot line, post haste, pompous, three sheets to the wind
• 9/11/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner US spelling
• Letters to the Editors More children's rhymes, hosey, Agent 99, braziers, sphagnum moss, St. Ambrose, heraldry,
• Laughing Stock "No Man is an Ireland" - political boners
• Issue 99
• Spotlight swamp things
• Words to the Wise crony, bumbershoot, spank, bimbo, English from Basque
• 8/28/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner Nutritious vs. nutritional and others
• Letters to the Editors Sexual slang in music, punny readers, sailing details, Shakespeare's jacks, more dibs synonyms, commas revisited
• Laughing Stock Dining in style
• Issue 98
• Spotlight the word-of-all-trades part II
• Words to the Wise dosh, creole, fair to middlin', squid, c*nt
• 8/21/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner Growing a minimum horn
• Letters to the Editors 1500s is 16th century, commas, bagging, meddlin' in middlin', jackets are old, jacks, and eight a's!
• Laughing Stock Spam from Russia with Love
• Issue 97
• Spotlight the word-of-all-trades
• Words to the Wise humongous, soda, dibbs, fugue, bees' knees
• 8/14/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner from between
• Letters to the Editors You say potato, fuzzy wuzzy, language gaffes, oronyms
• Laughing Stock Re-re-re-translations
• Issue 96
• Spotlight Mother of all tongues
• Words to the Wise revamp, library, colony, sorcerer, ex
• 8/7/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner wherefore
• Letters to the Editors English pronuciation, oronyms
• Laughing Stock Spam from Russia with Love
• Issue 95
• Spotlight Edible words
• Words to the Wise curmudgeon, fix, hootenanny, soul, milquetoast
• 7/31/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner crescendo
• Letters to the Editors virgin, plurals, , Lithuanian, injuries, Pali
• Laughing Stock English as she are spoke
• Issue 94
• Spotlight The crippled creep
• Words to the Wise surgery/chirurgery, supper/dinner, dog days, washer, mischievous
• 7/24/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner prepositions
• Letters to the Editors virgin, more strange English, sexual slang, plurals
• Laughing Stock Children's books
• Issue 93
• Spotlight English Ancestry Part II
• Words to the Wise fork, pew, screaming meemies, preterist, troilism
• 7/17/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner depluralization
• Letters to the Editors honky, poont*ng, noise words, virgin
• Laughing Stock English is a stupid language
• Issue 92
• Spotlight English ancestry
• Words to the Wise siege, fell swoop, star (person), virgin, right track, poont*ng
• 7/10/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner noise words
• Letters to the Editors more Dutch, long lost friends, clapping, honky
• Laughing Stock steamed children
• Issue 91
• Spotlight veg-edibles part II
• Words to the Wise loagy, sublime, clap, honky, crestfallen
• 6/19/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner plural mispronunciation
• Letters to the Editors more on product labels, belladonna returns, laughed so hard he flooded!
• Laughing Stock George W. Bush, in his own words
• Issue 90
• Spotlight veg-edibles
• Words to the Wise thumb, eclipse, vitamin, to rare, scouse
• 6/19/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner convincing and persuasive
• Letters to the Editors more on product labels, to know you is to know you, Persian, not Arabic!, more on Azazel, it's a piece of cake, a name for the unnamed, hacking the etymology of hacker
• Laughing Stock Reasons why the English language is so hard to learn
• Issue 89
• Spotlight wise acres
• Words to the Wise nadir, intact, panic, piece of cake, flea market
• 6/5/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner the unnamed pet peeve
• Letters to the Editors ollie ollie oxen free, Egypt, sending TOWFI to a friend
• Laughing Stock Instruction (or is that DEstruction?) labels
• Issue 88
• Spotlight a little knowledge
• Words to the Wise chat, mall, slavery
• 5/30/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner role models
• Letters to the Editors goats (Azazel), oxen (ollie ollie oxen free), mornings, Japanese, a fool's cap
• Issue 87
• Spotlight minced oaths
• Words to the Wise get one's goat, moonshine, naked as a jaybird, nihilism, ollie ollie oxen free, foolscap, Krishna, in the black/red
• 5/22/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner hopefully it will not be momentarily
• Letters to the Editors plural and not so plural possessive, yesterday in The Netherlands, back issues formula, reaching Indians, a suggested link
• Issue 86
• Spotlight Japanese words in English
• Words to the Wise Aryan, noodle (food), benchmark, doozy, yesterday
• 5/15/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner feral insurance companies
• Letters to the Editors sesquipedalianism, it's in the roasting, so is one Jones a Jone?, Surdez you jest
• Issue 85
• Spotlight beer
• Words to the Wise nag, (bill of) lading, cobbler, nit, jingoism
• 5/8/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner epicentrism
• Letters to the Editors brine whine, a bitter taste, a German churl, lemoned water, in-store free-for-all, quanta, reusing absent items, corponyms, language anarchy
• Issue 84
• Spotlight blood-sucking parasites
• Words to the Wise ectoplasm, quay, heinous, quirk, churlish
• 5/1/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner bitter words
• Letters to the Editors more bunnies, more quantum leaps, whither the sticky wicket?, Indiastan, an edible noggin, it's Odin Tew you
• Issue 83
• Spotlight promotional materials
• Words to the Wise Indian, deadbeat, noodle, destiny, toilette
• 4/24/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner close to the edge
• Letters to the Editors A disgruntled anti-commercialite, write about Dutch wife and get chastised re gender!, voilà - a viola, down on the Welsh
• Issue 82
• Spotlight Holy Spirit
• Words to the Wise due south, sticky wicket, wet nurse, fantastic, podzol and chernozem
• 4/17/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner Realty is reality
• Letters to the Editors British pronunciation, more rabbits, French letters and cor anglaise, we're almost always right, and double Dutch alumni
• Issue 81
• Spotlight the Easter Bunny
• Words to the Wise asymptote, first/ second/third, [dog] pound, shepherd, poverty
• 4/10/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner American as apple pie
• Letters to the Editors Dutch terms, cricket, grim, and foundering citizens
• Issue 80
• Spotlight those darned foreigners
• Words to the Wise fusion and fission, nigh/near/next, along and belong, feudal, jewelry
• 4/3/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner light years away
• Letters to the Editors grim reaper returns, revisiting the ivory tower, the etymology of Sahara, and comments on city words
• Issue 79
• Spotlight city words
• Words to the Wise brawl, puce, ivory tower, butt (heads), virtually
• 3/27/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner associate
• Letters to the Editors alfa?, more dudes, more African words, don't knock La Brea Tar Pits, a NASAism, redundancies return, the grim truth about the Grim Reaper, gorilla girls
• Issue 78
• Spotlight African words, part 2
• Words to the Wise agent, hearse and rehearse, Patagonia, ruthless, Grim Reaper
• 3/20/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner literally
• Letters to the Editors Tenses, phonetic alphabet, desert islands, more redundancies
• Issue 77
• Spotlight African words, part 1
• Words to the Wise stroke, a bone to pick, roger and wilco, cold feet, Teutonic
• 3/13/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner can vs. may
• Letters to the Editors Cowboy slang, more redundancies, dories, Indonesian words, Thruber, and an old issue
• Issue 76
• Spotlight some phrases
• Words to the Wise ream (of paper), blue chip (stocks), dude, cowlick, hunky dory
• 3/6/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner rice paddies
• Letters to the Editors British hospitality; African roots; Diego clarification; spurious dago origin; thanks from Korea; more on waxy derivations

• Issue 75
• Spotlight metathesis
• Words to the Wise sincere, redneck, polecat, -ica, hospitality
• 2/28/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner nicety
• Letters to the Editors The path of kwent- to "path-"; snobbish vs. style; a glutinous definition; dago revisited;
• Issue 74
• Spotlight animals as food
• Words to the Wise agglutinate, tarnation, dago, gadget, -path/path-
• 2/21/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner nuclear errors
• Letters to the Editors a week of praise
• Issue 73
• Spotlight eros
• Words to the Wise page, ardent, brouhaha and hubbub, nemesis, money grubber
• 2/14/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner early
• Letters to the Editors more on fishmongers, Life in the 1500s, barristers, and refutation
• Issue 72
• Spotlight fishmonger
• Words to the Wise know all men by these presents, bar, history, prize and price, signature
• 2/7/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner refute
• Letters to the Editors kind words; metheglin; urband legends and burials in England; a fortnight of critical thinking
• Issue 71
• Spotlight honeymoon
• Words to the Wise you're welcome, grapefruit, how come, Spam, hypocrite
• 1/31/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner supposably
• Letters to the Editors phonemes; wala is a Tagalog word
• Issue 70
• Spotlight peacock
• Words to the Wise duck, metaphysics, limehouse, down the pike, turn over a new leaf
• 1/24/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner wa-LA
• Letters to the Editors Lots of "is, is that"; dream or mirth?
• Issue 69
• Spotlight dances
• Words to the Wise dream, smart, shy, debt, on the ball
• 1/17/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner the reason is, is that...
• Letters to the Editors Eve length, Hebrew names, more maniacs
• Issue 68
• Spotlight Jesus
• Words to the Wise maniac, glitch, taxi cab, guy, autumn
• 1/10/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner happy New Year's
• Letters to the Editors revisionist history
• Issue 67
• Spotlight English words from Arabic
• Words to the Wise Limey, widow's peak, sallyport, cahoots, hobnob
• 1/03/00
• Curmudgeons' Corner definitely not definately
• Letters to the Editors skinny-dipping of the century; brogue shoes and brogue speech
• Issue 66
• Spotlight handicap
• Words to the Wise spiffy, prostitute, sheriff, skinny, black
• 12/27/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner a very special century
• Letters to the Editors more Welsh stuff; the longest place name in Britain; Greek chi; alveolar and bilabial
• Issue 65
• Spotlight holiday words
• Words to the Wise chuckwagon and chuckhole, shiver me timbers, castle and chaste, deer, Jew
• 12/20/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Imput and spayded
• Letters to the Editors Etymology and entomology; a D.C. perspective; Etruscan has been deciphered; niger and the EEOC; Icelandic surnames; Welsh names; it's not the end of the millennium-yet
• Issue 64
• Spotlight fatidencies
• Words to the Wise grape; aisle, isle and island; tautology; snake oil, word
• 12/13/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner various examples of misuse/abuse
• Letters to the Editors words on television; Norwegian surnames; squaw; more on surnames
• Issue 63
• Spotlight acronyms
• Words to the Wise clean as a whistle, entertainment, marble, luck, surname
• 12/6/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner more about acronyms
• Letters to the Editors Macs; where to study etymology; title changes
• Issue 62
• Spotlight thanksgiving
• Words to the Wise swashbuckler, eavesdrop, secretary/secret, links, sarcasm
• 11/22/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner lecterns and podiums
• Letters to the Editors Latin declensions; Russian roulette and critical thinking; rave as an acronym
• Issue 61
• Spotlight Russian roulette
• Words to the Wise abracadabra, exotic, bulldozer, cheese, rave
• 11/15/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner millenia/schmillenia
• Letters to the Editors more on pluck you; bring vs. take
• Issue 60
• Spotlight Lynch
• Words to the Wise Amazon, red tape, rube, bit (1/8 dollar), skid row
• 11/8/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Bring vs. take
• Letters to the Editors -gry, -gry, go away; monthly correction; egregious usage; Swedish cognates; wallpaper paste from Korea
• Issue 59
• Spotlight Guitar
• Words to the Wise catch 22, watershed, jackass, crowbar, place, double whammy
• 11/1/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Egregious
• Letters to the Editors Latin grammar, the important people
• Issue 58
• Spotlight Months
• Words to the Wise caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, made from scratch, sky, dunning letter, waive, pardon my French
• 10/25/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Enormity
• Letters to the Editors Bizarre berserkers and paying our "dues"
• .
• Issue 57
• Spotlight Hectic
• Words to the Wise bizarre, synergy, peccadillo, conundrum, wax [historical], ivy league
• 10/19/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner About
• Letters to the Editors Drunk skunks, our German, commas re-revisited, hobo histories, layout, praise, and barytons
• Issue 56
• Spotlight Some more musical instruments
• Words to the Wise mafia, mosaic, testify, drunk as a skunk, preponderance
• 10/11/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Arctic in the attic
• Letters to the Editors More on hobo and gaudy, our German, p's and q's, punctuation, and titans or not?
• Issue 55
• Spotlight Holding your breath (and your nose)
• Words to the Wise Golf, Generation X, gaudy, run the gauntlet, flair
• 10/4/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner A mere mirror
• Letters to the Editors More on the -gry hoax and our new look
• Issue 54
• Spotlight Woodwind words
• Words to the Wise Ballpark (figure), bogus, catawampus, chicken pox
• 9/20/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Gourmet delights
• Letters to the Editors New site/look comments
• Issue 53
• Spotlight Etymology vs. real meanings
• Words to the Wise Mushroom, metaphor, moist, mind your p's and q's
• 9/20/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Pronouncing -phth-
• Letters to the Editors An OEDer and boobs again!
• Issue 52
• Spotlight Continental names
• Words to the Wise Dyed in the wool, atlas, boob, elite, electricity
• 9/13/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Quantum leap
• Letters to the Editors Eck cetera, etc.
• Issue 51
• Spotlight Another internet hoax: hungry, angry, and ?
• Words to the Wise Geek, etymology, abecedarium, memorize by heart, plague and ague
• 8/23/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner This is so different
• Letters to the Editors Spurious obscenity etymologies, brogue and Mick

• Issue 50
• Spotlight Irish Gaelic words in English
• Words to the Wise Obscenities (censored), quiz, photographer, doily and antimacassar, gossip
• 8/16/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner It's ET!
• Letters to the Editors Hoosegow revisited, Melanie & Mike play Darwin, and pomposity
• Issue 49
• Spotlight Celtic words in English
• Words to the Wise Spinster, beyond the pale, hot dog, hobbit, hoosegow
• 8/9/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Lose the t or eltse!
• Letters to the Editors Whence does "from whence" come?
• Issue 48
• Spotlight Wrought and wreaked havoc
• Words to the Wise Gutta-percha, Bolinas, zombie, jumbo, mumbo-jumbo
• 8/3/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Racked with seaweed
• Letters to the Editors Got vs. gotten
• Issue 47
• Spotlight The quick and the dead
• Words to the Wise Tow-head, woman, teller, they
• 7/5/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner I wonder...?
• Letters to the Editors Picnic, entitled
• Issue 46
• Spotlight A campaign for camping
• Words to the Wise B silent, cynic and skeptic, and scuttlebutt
• 6/29/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner ...And who, may I ask, is calling?
• Letters to the Editors Reverse psychology revisited
• Issue 45
• Spotlight Yet more names of nations: Serendip
• Words to the Wise agog
• 6/21/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Reverse psychology
• Letters to the Editors More names for Germany
• Issue 44
• Spotlight It's no mystery
• Words to the Wise Ta-da, pal, pee-yew, bias
• 6/14/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Degrees of possibility
• Letters to the Editors Traps and Hungarian
• Issue 43
• Spotlight More names of nations: Germany
• Words to the Wise Toodle-oo, rain check, pay the piper, hoodlum, traps, drumstick
• 6/7/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Rank Ranking
• Letters to the Editors School-marms and enfeebled verbs
• Issue 42
• Spotlight Names of nations
• Words to the Wise Calaveras, pray/prayer, dollar, visa, filibuster
• 6/1/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Enfeebled verbs
• Letters to the Editors More on misplaced modifiers and Native Americans
• Issue 41
• Spotlight Indian words
• Words to the Wise Silhouette, squaw, copycat, whore, tar (slang for sailor)
• 5/24/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Misplaced Modifiers; Submit Yours!
• Letters to the Editors More Fun With K
• Issue 40
• Spotlight Drug-language abuse
• Words to the Wise Cooties, jones, assassination
• 5/17/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Accused In
• Letters to the Editors Solanaceae, tomatoes, and three k's for Derek
• Issue 39
• Spotlight Internet Poppycock
• Words to the Wise Life in the 1500s, our feet!
• 5/10/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Use of anxious for eager
• Letters to the Editors Gestures
• Issue 38
• Spotlight Native American Words in English
• Words to the Wise coward/cowardice, hangar, crisp
• 4/20/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Beg the question vs. raise the question
• Letters to the Editors The Changing English Language
• Issue 37
• Spotlight Point-blank
• Words to the Wise pussy[cat], kitty, beluga, puppy, horse, stag/hen night
• 4/20/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Momento vs. Memento
• Letters to the Editors Turkey's "Original" Name
• Issue 36
• Spotlight Evil
• Words to the Wise fairy and fay, cemetery, chapel, pagan, heretic, church
• 4/12/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Salt and Pepper Weather
• Letters to the Editors Quotation marks revisited
• Issue 35
• Spotlight Blue Moon
• Words to the Wise beestings, Good Friday, Orient, Caucasian, ax versus ask, one another
• 4/5/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Periods inside or outside of quotation marks
• Issue 34
• Spotlight Easter
• Words to the Wise juke box, eureka, bone up, disaster, goblin, blah
• 3/29/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner I Could[n't] Care Less
• Letters to the Editors
• Do Brits Flog Fags?
• Issue 33
• Spotlight The Fabric of Words, Part III of III
• Words to the Wise titillating, babble, caput, faggot, round robin, drum (slang)
• 3/22/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Quote Unquote revisited
• Issue 32
• Spotlight The Fabric of Words, Part II of III
• Words to the Wise earth, galoot, jitney, hackneyed
• 3/15/99
• Letters to the Editors
• picnics, gender vs. sex, cul-de-sac
• Issue 31
• Spotlight The Fabric of Words, Part I of III
• Words to the Wise drivel, navigate, drag queen, cool, gender vs. sex
• 3/8/99
• Curmudgeon's Corner affect vs. effect
• Letters to the Editors
• etymological research
• Issue 30
• Spotlight Frenzied words
• Words to the Wise cul-de-sac, cockpit, limousine, chauvinism, lukewarm
• 3/2/99
• Curmudgeon's Corner Quote Unquote
• Letters to the Editors
• Classical pronunciation
• Issue 29
• Spotlight February Feasts and Holidays
• Words to the Wise Whiddon Down (place name), shroff, churchkey, lumpkin, the f-word revisited, miracle
• 2/22/99
• Letters to the Editors
• Horsey terms
• Issue 28
• Spotlight Valentine's Day
• Words to the Wise to come to a head, lesbian and homosexual, romance
• 2/15/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Classical Plurals
• Letters to the Editors
• Howdy Doody and the Peanut Gallery
• Issue 27
• Spotlight peanut gallery
• Words to the Wise weapon, campy, red herring, cretin, caribou, prophet, believe
• 2/8/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner A Whole Nother
• Letters to the Editors
• A Coincidence
• Issue 26
• Spotlight niggardly
• Words to the Wise waffle, radical, uppity, boredom, teetotaler, out of sorts
• 1/31/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner epithets
• Letters to the Editors
• Update on the Death Valley treasure chest

• Issue 25
• Spotlight -tain/-ten words.
• Words to the Wise inculcate, mound and henge, and grub stake (the Death Valley treasure chest)
• 1/25/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner American pronunciation
• Letters to the Editors
• Pluck yew
• Issue 24
• Spotlight Cowboy
• Words to the Wise cut and dried, luminescence, felony, Sumerology and Hungarian
• 1/18/99
• Letters to the Editors
• More on qualified absolutes
• Issue 23
• Spotlight Corn
• Words to the Wise impeach, port and starboard, Dixie, scot-free
• 1/11/99
• Curmudgeons' Corner Pronunciation, Men and Women versus People, Mischiev[i]ous, Irregardless, and W
• Issue 22
• Spotlight Solstice
• Words to the Wise technology, blue laws, cheapskate, majority whip, ragtime
• 12/28/98
• Curmudgeons' Corner Reasons Why
• Issue 21
• Spotlight Yule
• Words to the Wise pandemonium, I, [Spanish] main, sequence of the alphabet,
• 12/21/98
• Curmudgeons' Corner Iraq
• Issue 20
• Spotlight Souling
• Words to the Wise diabetes, lieutentant, observe
• 12/14/98
• Curmudgeons' Corner Obverse
• Issue 19
• Spotlight Lookalikes
• Words to the Wise the letter s, mister, narcotics, paparazzi
• 12/07/98
• Issue 18
• Spotlight Bellwether
• Words to the Wise barbershop quartet, hoe-down and shindig, auspicious
• 11/30/98
• Curmudgeons' Corner A Collection of Complaints
• Issue 17
• Spotlight Death Valley
• Words to the Wise Ku Klux Klan, dressed to the nines, horked/gorked, bazaar, gravity, noon, twit
• 11/23/98
• Issue 16
• Spotlight Chocolate
• Words to the Wise goody two-shoes, theodolite, skedaddle,
• 11/9/98
• Curmudgeons' Corner Absolutely Unique
• Issue 15
• Spotlight Frown
• Words to the Wise yankee, faith, drugs, relax, oops, card shark/sharp
• 11/2/98
• Curmudgeons' Corner Number
• Issue 14
• Spotlight Obscure Slang
• Words to the Wise frump, -smith, kill, fascinate, scrap
• 10/26/98
• Issue 13
• Spotlight nose words
• Words to the Wise sucker, hitch-hike, codswallop & toerag, -ish
• 10/19/98
• Issue 12
• Spotlight Computer-related Words
• Words to the Wise cerebrum/cerebellum, gospel, moor, baklava, -guilt, indict, stat
• 10/12/98
• Curmudgeons' Corner Snobbery
• Issue 11
• Spotlight Treacle
• Words to the Wise lynch, hijack, for Pete's sake, dork, chafing dish, sin
• 10/5/98
• Issue 10
• Spotlight Barbecued Barbarians and Their Barbers
• Words to the Wise delta, ampersand, toilet, mock, disgruntled, up to snuff, input
• 9/28/98
• Curmudgeons' Corner Like, Why Do We Abuse Like?
• Issue 9
• Spotlight pub names
• Words to the Wise deadline, J, boilerplate, enclave, step-, in fine fettle
• 9/28/98
• Curmudgeons' Corner Singular and Plural
• Issue 8
• Spotlight justice
• Words to the Wise gringo, hi, rig(a)marole, diddly-squat, diamond
• 9/14/98
• Issue 7
• Spotlight Minoan Words
• Words to the Wise ration, newfangled, privacy, savage
• 8/31/98
• Curmudgeons' Corner Pristine Usage
• Issue 6
• Spotlight hotel
• Words to the Wise shortening, by and large, race, friendship, burrito, cartoon, post (mail), comfort
• 8/24/98
• Curmudgeons' Corner The Een Problem
• Issue 5
• Spotlight aesthetics
• Words to the Wise potato, myriad, unction & anointing, handsome
• 8/17/98
• Issue 4
• Spotlight suborn
• Words to the Wise cockeyed, cake, D-day, pipedream, hurrah
• 8/10/98
• Issue 3
• Spotlight fiddle
• Words to the Wise fortnight, god, iota
• 8/3/98
• Issue 2
• Spotlight ilk
• Words to the Wise discipline, suffragette, snob & nob, muggy
• 7/27/98
• Issue 1
• Spotlight screed
• Words to the Wise earmark, crocodile tears, broker
• 7/20/98

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XTOWFI - AoYEQ
Archive of Your Etymology Questions

Archive of Your Etymology Questions

A - D

abba | abecedarium | abuse | abusive | acre | afghan | ain't | alimony | Angela | answer | antebellum | apple of one's eye | apropos | archetype | aunt | awesome | awkward | baker's dozen | barbecue | barber | barefaced lie | Benjamin | betray | Big Apple | Big Dipper | binge | bite the dust | bloody | blue moon | blues | bodacious | boost (steal) | bootleg | boycott | break a leg | bridal | bride price | Bruce | buck | the buck stops here | bum | bus boy | butterfly | buy the farm | cable | campaign | cancel | cartwheel | Casey | celebrate | Celtic/Gaelic words in English | Chevrolet | Cheyenne | Christopher | chron- | cloud | cocktail | coffee | cold turkey | commitment | community | con- | contagion | coon | copacetic | cornucopia | cosmopolitan | country names | courage | crepuscular | custody | cyborg | Damien | dashboard | David | dawn | days of the week | dead as a doornail | deism | dendron | despair | divorce | doctor | domino | donate | doublet | downtown | dragoon | duck soup | Dudley | Dutch |

E-G

eating crow | Eden | educate | egregious | eleemosynary | engineer | epic | euphemism | evanescence | excursive | facetious | fluent | fluke | fool | foot | fore | forgive | frankfurter | fun | gaia/ge- | galleon | gallon | gay | George | gerrymander | gig | gild the lily | give | godseye | gook

H - J

hallowed | hamburger | hanged | heartstrings | hello | help | hem and haw | hero | hex | hobo | hocus pocus | hokum | holy | honky-tonk | hoodwinked | hoosegow | hope | horrible | horse of a different color | horseradish | humbug | hungry | hurricane | husband | hush puppy | illuminati | illusion | illustrate | impunity | inch | Indian | Indian summer | Isolde | it ain't over till the fat lady sings | jamboree | jaywalker | jazz | jeans | Jehovah | Jim dandy | John (toilet) | John Doe | judgment | juryrigged

K - M

Kendall | ketchup | kick the bucket | kill the messenger | Kilroy was here | knight | knowledge | lam | lazy Susan | leader | league | learning the ropes | lemon | leviathan | life of Reilly | light fingered | like | lime | loaf | love | Luddite | lunatic | macrobiotic | malarkey | man | marriage | marry | mascara | master | matter | May Day | mediation | meter | Mexican standoff | mile | miscellaneous | mocha | mongoloid | monkey wrench | moonstone | more than one way to skin a cat | moron | mother | Ms. | Mulligan | muse

N - P

narcissistic | Native American words in English | neck of the woods | neighborhood | Nelly | nerd | New York minute | nightmare | nincompoop | notions | nylon | obedience | obfuscate | obscenities | obsess | off the cuff | O.K. | okey dokey | Olga | -orama | orange | ordeal | other | paddy wagon | palooka | pancake/hotcake | paradigm | pariah | pass the buck | passion | peel | performance | persecution | physical fitness | physiognomy | picnic | pine tags | pink slip | pinkie | pint | plaintiff | politically correct (pc) | posh | priority | proactive | prodigious | propriety | psi- | pulling your leg | pundit

Q - S

quart | quash | quest | rage | raining cats and dogs | Randall | rank and file | reality | receipt | recipe | red cent | religion | representation | research | ride | (in one's own) right | road | ruddy | rule of thumb | run the gauntlet | run the gamut | Rupert | sabotage | sacred | salary | salivation/salvation | saponification | scab | scholar | science fiction | scrooge | scuttlebutt | sea change | segue | semen | Semitic | sesquicentennial | shanks' mare/pony | shenanigans | sialic | silver | singlet | sirloin | six ways to Sunday | skirt | skosh | skullduggery | skunk | slang dictionaries | so long | solder | soldier | son | sophomore southpaw | sow wild oats | sphygmomanometer |spirit | squash | story/storey | straight from the horse's mouth | stumped | success | suck | sugar | sun | surf | surprise | Sussex, Essex, Wessex, Middlesex

T - Z

team | teamwork | teller | they | tidbit | tidy | tiffin | toe the line | tom foolery | tomboy | traipse | transform | trial by fire | trinitrotoluene | trombone | tumbrel |turkey | typhoon | uncle | understand | vessel | veterinarian | virus | vowels in English | war | whole nine yards | which | wife | [on a] wild goose chase | window | wisdom | witch | woman | won't | wonder | xylophone | Yahweh | yard | yuck | zero | zymoscope

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blogspot.com
Take Our Word For It Blog

• THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 2015 - Why is Quinoa Pronounced As Though It Were French?
• MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014 - Our Dear Old Al-
• TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2014 - Mommy, What's a Codpiece?
• SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014 - Miscellany
• SUNDAY, MARCH 23, 2014 - Cobbling Together Some Etymologies
• SUNDAY, MARCH 2, 2014 - T is for Texas, TOWFI and Twitter
• MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 - Origins of Some Words We Don't Use Much Any Longer
• MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014 - That's So Cheesy!
• TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2014 - A Walk Along the Guadalupe River
• TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2014 - Words from the Road
• WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2014 - The Etymology of a Couple of Famous Surnames
• SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2009 - Breaking the Silence
• WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2008 - Unfortunate Error
• TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2008 - Elevens and Twelves
• SUNDAY, AUGUST 3, 2008 - Content from the Old Blog and Some New Etymologies - August 3 2008
• SATURDAY, JULY 26, 2008 - NEW Take Our Word For It Blog - July 26 2008