Arabic loanwords are words taken directly from Arabic languages and incorporated into English. Algebra, sofa, sash, and sequin are among the hundreds of common English words that originated within the Arabic languages. A few others are, magazine, alcohol, jar, cotton, and mattress. Racquet comes from an Arabic word for hand, which is how tennis was […]
Language
What Do BC, AD, BCE, and CE Stand For and What is the Difference Between Them When Referring to Dates?
In 525 AD the Christian church introduced a calendar using the year of Christ’s birth, 1 AD, or “Anno Domini,” as the starting point. Earlier events were BC, or “Before Christ.” Uncomfortable with these references, non-Christians replaced BC with BCE for “Before the Common Era” and AD with CE, the “Common Era.”
How Did the Letters in the Word “News” Become an Acronym for North, East, West, and South?
Some early news sheets were headed with N-E-W-S as points of a compass, but it was simply a clever gimmick. The word news predates these publications and emerged with its current meaning within a letter written by King James of Scotland in 1423. In 1616, his descendant, James I of England, wrote another letter, which […]
What Does the Word “Bedlam” Mean and Where Did the Term For Chaos Come From?
The word bedlam is a medieval slang pronunciation of “Bethlehem”. The use of the word to describe a mad uproar dates back to a London hospital for the insane. St. Mary in Bethlehem was incorporated in 1547 as the Royal Foundation for Lunatics. Because people could hear but only imagine the chaos inside, they began […]
How Did the Expression “Having Kittens” Originate for a Hysterical Woman and What Does the Phrase Mean?
In medieval times and during the American era of witch trials in Salem, whenever an unfortunate pregnant woman began to have premature pains or extreme discomfort, the authorities suspected that she had been bewitched. Because witchcraft and cats were synonymous, they feared that she was about to have a litter of kittens and that the […]
