By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Sometimes, writers get undue credit for coining particular words. Did Shakespeare really ‘invent’ the word ‘alligator’? Or ‘puking’? Or is his use of these words simply the earliest use we have (or at least, have found) on record? (Indeed, in the case of ‘alligator’ Shakespeare’s isn’t even the earliest use found on record: this word, albeit with slightly different spellings, has been found in texts from the 1550s, before Shakespeare was even born.)
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Narcissism’ is a handy word: it conveys the idea of being self-absorbed and self-regarding, there is a handy word which combines these two aspects of selfishness in one. But where does this word come from?
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Where did the word ‘quark’ come from? And what exactly is a ‘quark’ anyway? The origins of the word ‘quark’ are curious, surprising, and worthy of explanation, so let’s delve into the curious etymology of this well-known, though not always well-understood, scientific term.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Where does the word ‘dinosaur’ come from, and what does it literally mean? And why is the word ‘dinosaur’ entirely inappropriate for the thing it describes?
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
When the word ‘homophobia’ was first invented, it didn’t mean what it means now. Instead, it had a different meaning. To discover the origins of the term ‘homophobia’, we have to delve into the etymology of the word, examine a small amount of Latin and less Greek, and discover how the word was, in effect, coined twice: the first being a false start, the second representing a change in attitude in wider society.