#WordNerd Alert!! Susan Del Percio came up with a new one! If you cringe when you hear talking heads use the word "concerning" when they mean DISCONCERTING, Susan's got the hybrid for ya. It's

DISCONCERNING. If it comes into common usage, it's destined for the Oxford English Dictionary.

Here's a fun little etymology tidbit I just came across:

The root of the word "pejorative" is the Proto-Indo European "ped-" — the same root that means "foot" in "pedal" and "pedestrian."

According to Etymonline, the whole meaning of "ped-" to "to walk, stumble, or impair," and it's from those bad meanings that we get "pejorative."

I never would have guessed that "pejorative" was related to "pedicure."

#etymology #words #WordNerd

They came for me, so I had to show them why they shouldn’t 🤣
#weirdflex #wordnerd #duolingo

On my walk tonight, I told a guy the surfboard rack on his bike was nifty.

Then I wondered where "nifty" comes from. I would have guessed it was a 1940s or 1950s word, maybe something from WWII. But nope —1868.

The poet who first used it said it was from "magnificat," but the OED is unconvinced. The etymology section says this origin is "unlikely."

#etymology #WordNerd #nifty

@grumble209 @donkeyherder @futurebird Guberif! Love it! Great example of back slang.

#WordNerd #Linguist #Linguistics #BackSlang #Guberif #Words #Language

👉🏼 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_slang

Watch the rewind of our chat with Gael Spivak and find out how the ISO Standard for Plain Language came together.

Check out the YouTube Premiere: http://bit.ly/ThatWordVideo

Learn more about the ISO Standard: http://iplfederation.org/iso-standard

#AmEditing #WritingCommunity #WordNerd

Really interesting Freakonomics Radio podcast on swearing, its history, and impact. I definitely recommend a listen if you're a word nerd. Or if you swear a lot. :)

It's the April 19th one, so I'm pretty F'ing behind. D'oh.

#language #wordnerd

@enduser @wikipediahaiku

Hey Syscrash, happy Sunday. Your toot had serendipitous alignment on my home feed with the Wiki Haiku acct. it’s so close, not quite perfect, but easy enough to fix with a simple revision:

A Blue Rabbit haiku:

Spring blue rabbit shows
the artist's style of
ink and dry erase marker

#haiku #SerendipitousAlignment
#rabbit #WordNerd

Missed last week's #ThatWordChat episode with special guest Maggie Lorenz? Tune in to our YouTube channel today, June 13, at 4:30 PM ET for the video premiere!

Set your alarm and watch it here: bit.ly/ThatWordVideo

#AmEditing #WritingCommunity #WordNerd

Missed last week's #ThatWordChat episode with special guest Maggie Lorenz? Tune in to our YouTube channel today, June 13, at 4:30 PM ET for the video premiere!

Set your alarm and watch it here: bit.ly/ThatWordVideo

#AmEditing #WritingCommunity #WordNerd

Epic hike today, inspired to write a haiku about it.

/// BEGIN HAIKU 5-7-5 ///

A babbling creekside
dog on a big soft boulder
mossy wonderland

/////// - END HAIKU - //////

#Mosstodon #haiku
#WordNerd
#Ruffers #AustralianCattleDog #RedHeeler #ACD

How many syllables does “babbling” have, is it 2 or 3?

Asking for a word nerd
#haiku #WordNerd

@themodestokid this is rad! I love that they pronounced libido the British way (li-bye-doe). Doesn’t rhyme with mosquito but works with albino! #wordnerd

The Scripps National Spelling Bee preliminaries start tomorrow, which got me thinking about this fun interview I did last year with associate pronouncer (yes, that's a real title!), Brian Sietsema.

How Spellers Tackle the Dreaded Schwa (episode 876)

Here's a short clip (~20 seconds): https://youtu.be/9SdQMZfaO98

You can read or listen here (or in your favorite podcast player) https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/how-spellers-tackle-the-dreaded-schwa/transcript

#SpellingBee #linguistics #WordNerd #GrammarGirl

Our word nerd minds were blown learning about the base-20 counting system that gives us the word "score." It originally had to do with sheep herders counting their flocks!

If you'd like to learn more fascinating facts about the ✨vigesimal✨ counting system, check out Grammar Girl podcast 929.

APPLE PODCASTS: https://lnkd.in/g6KJevF

SPOTIFY: https://lnkd.in/gveZnac

TRANSCRIPT: https://lnkd.in/gZN5EsWB

YOUTUBE: https://lnkd.in/gWjmSAa9

#podcast #etymology #WordNerd #GrammarGirl

Happy #NationalCartoonistsDay! And tomorrow is #FreeComicBookDay! So here’s our video “Marvel” about the history of comics, to celebrate! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_V7GSoi314

#Etymology #Video #WordNerd #Linguistics #Language #Words #HistoricalLinguistics #LingComm #Marvel #Comics

Happy #MuseumLoversDay! Did you know that ‘museum’ and ‘music’ are related words? We got into that in our video on Music, but we talked about the early history of museums in this Endnote: https://youtu.be/tbvvu2NDL-A

#Etymology #Video #WordNerd #Linguistics #Language #Words #HistoricalLinguistics #LingComm #Museum

It’s #BirdDay! So here are some bird etymologies to celebrate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HITkoa7q5J0

#Etymology #Video #WordNerd #Linguistics #Language #Words #HistoricalLinguistics #LingComm #Birds

Happy #StarWarsDay! #MayTheFourth be with you!
We have several podcast episodes about Star Wars movies: The Force Awakens http://www.alliterative.net/podcast/2016/1/14/i2k30txxe8x86bcc3tyvx56w42gjjf, Rogue One http://www.alliterative.net/podcast/2017/1/13/episode-26-rogue-one, and Rise of Skywalker http://www.alliterative.net/podcast/2020/6/1/episode-81-the-rise-and-fall-of-skywalker #LukeSkywalkerDay

#Etymology #Video #WordNerd #Linguistics #Language #Words #HistoricalLinguistics #LingComm #StarWars #Podcast

#wordnerd