etymology – Samir Chopra

Skinny Puppy’s ‘Nature’s Revenge’ and Tracing a Sample’s Provenance

As should be clear from the contents of this blog, I fly my nerd flag proudly. One way in which this nerdiness manifests itself is absurd pleasure in etymology lessons. (For instance, I’ve just discovered the Civil War-era origins of ‘shoddy‘ and ‘sideburn‘ and feel curiously gratified as a result.) This morning, I’ve chanced upon anotherContinue reading “Skinny Puppy’s ‘Nature’s Revenge’ and Tracing a Sample’s Provenance”

The Pleasures of Etymology Lessons

A persistent reaction of mine while reading is to react with little starts of pleasure when I encounter a little etymology lesson tucked away in the pages of my read. Recently, for instance, I found out that ‘hornbook‘–referring to treatises that aim to provide balanced summaries of a particular area of legal study–originated in EnglandContinue reading “The Pleasures of Etymology Lessons”