What is vitriol? Vitriol is an old-fashioned name for one of the most dangerous chemicals you can find: sulfuric acid. This substance is incredibly corrosive, meaning it eats away other substances due to chemical reactions. When sulfuric acid meets water, it produces an exothermic reaction, meaning the chemical reaction that occurs when a chemical mixes with water produces heat. Reactions between the two are responsible …
You’re texting, or reading comments on a blog. Suddenly your eyes go bananas. Someone has used a combination of strange numbers and symbols to spell out words, but in an awkward, semi-coherent manner. This bizarre take on the English alphabet began in the early days of the Internet and jumped over to the world of SMS (short message service, the common system used for sending …
In 2011, something shocking and mysterious happened: on New Year’s Day, residents of Beebe, Arkansas found thousands of dead blackbirds in the street. Days later, Louisiana residents discovered hundreds more deceased birds. Each event in isolation was disturbing enough, but with such proximity, it was hard not to draw conclusions. Within days, the dual avian tragedies planted a question in the popular imagination: could this be …
What does the number eleven mean? And what unusual words and expressions incorporate eleven? The word derives from the Old English endleofan, which means “one left,” as in “one left over ten.” This literal sense is found in the colloquial expression “the eleventh hour,” which is used to talk about doing something at the last possible moment. For example, “In the eleventh hour, Sophie switched the caterer …
If you had any doubt that 2010 was a complicated year, consider this: the five finalists for our People’s Choice Word of the Year were all fairly close contenders, and three of the words were multisyllabic mouthfuls. The top two entries were incredibly close – out of over 10,000 votes, the winner was only 40 votes ahead of the runner-up. The top five words, those …
When the Spanish first began exploring the Pacific Coast of North America, they mistakenly believed that California was an island. (Some of the earliest and most fascinating maps of the state depict it as separated from the mainland.) This is considered one of the greatest, albeit short-lived, cartographic errors. Early mapmakers began labeling the “island” as California, the name of a mythical island in a book …
Hollywood starlet and Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow is being honored with a star along the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The actress is also the first to have the words on her star receive a thorough spellchecking. One reason: to avoid another misspelling scandal like the one surrounding the star of Julia Louis-Dreyfus. (Why is it called an “Oscar,” not a “Frank” or “Bartholomew?” Get the
The unisex sheepskin and fleece footware called UGG boots, or simply uggs, gained popularity in the 1960s when competitive surfers began wearing them. They were the perfect remedy for cold, numb, wet feet. Now, everyone seems to be sporting the boots, from Hollywood celebrities and their tween followers to suburban moms. Originally of simple design, uggs now sport glamorous embellishments such as brass grommets, fringe, …
If humankind can create airplanes, cellphones, and penicilin, surely we can tackle the hassle of language. Why doesn’t some brainiac come up with the perfect language that everyone can learn? Before you get all riled up, be assured this question is rhetorical. To start, this is not a new idea. In the late nineteenth century, a Polish oculist and linguist named Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof set …
The term “AMBER Alert” has become synonymous with stories of missing children. So who is Amber? And why is her name blasted out to cellphones and on highway signs every time police need our help locating a child in danger? What is an AMBER Alert? First, the basics. In the suspected kidnapping of a child, an AMBER Alert is issued. This urgent bulletin is voluntarily …
What exactly is the holy grail? Search recent and current headlines, and you’ll find folks looking for the “holy grail” of everything from winemaking, to math and clean energy. The term is so rich in myth and history that we can’t resist the opportunity for elucidation. What is a holy grail? For the record, most of the uses of this term holy grail are informal …
“That is sooooo ironic.” This sentence is used frequently—and usually incorrectly—in American English. Often the word ironic is misused to remark on a coincidence, such as This is the third time today we’ve run into each other. How ironic. It is also mistakenly used to describe something out of the ordinary or unusual: Yesterday was a beautiful, warm day in November. It was really ironic. …