A lady asked me to post a link to her list of the twenty best books on language. So here it is , and a very interesting list it seems too. ...

It's a funny thought for an Englishman that the etymological purpose of an umbrella is to keep the sun off you. Umbrella comes from th...

The English-speaking world is anglophone because England (or Angle-land) is named after the Angles who invaded along with the Saxons when t...

There's a strange feeling that you get when you're reading an old novel and find what you thought was a new phrase. Take, for examp...

Many moons ago, I wondered whether there was a lexicographic equivalent of a cartographer's folly . Basically, mapmakers put tiny mista...

Last night I was sending a text message in which I happened to use the word apocolocyntosis . I was shocked to discover that apocolocyntosi...

I had often heard and used the word oubliette , but until a couple of weeks ago I had never actually seen one. An oubliette is a dungeon ...