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
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
Außerdem gibt es eine Bibliographie, einige theoretische Hinweise zur Etymologie und eine Mailingliste.
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-
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
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
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
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
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