Through the urging of my friends, I have decided to start this etymology and linguistics blog.  Much of the existing content was taken from my Facebook posts back in 2014 & 2015, so I’ve backdated everything since some of it was topical to events of the time. I promise to update with new content moving forward.

I get my obsession with words from my grandpa, Edward, who was a linguist.  He was fluent in several languages, and used to do things like translate Antigone from the original Greek just for kicks.  My grandpa influenced me in many ways.  Among other things, he taught me how to build a fire in a wood stove, and how to do algebra without wanting to hurl myself off of the roof (math was another language he was fluent in).  One gift he gave me was a tremendous love of language, words, and turns of phrase.  This was mostly due to the fact that he had such a particular delivery when it came to the spoken word.  He read me Winnie The Pooh as a kid, and I can still hear his voice saying “and the only reason to make honey is so I can eat it.”  I can hear his voice in my own writing too, and writing this blog makes me feel like I still get to hang out with him, and study words together.

Unlike my grandpa, I am not fluent in any languages other than English, though I have some French, Norwegian, and Spanish, but I do have a deep curiosity for how words form and change over time. For me, the path that words take is a fascinating anthropological study in culture, and it is one of the ways I study culture, the other way being through food.

One thing I cannot claim to be is an expert on linguistics or etymology, so if you see some mistakes in this blog, please feel free to point them out to me, because that is just another way for me to learn more.  I tend to get most of my information by pouring through The Online Etymology Dictionary, and my copy of Shipley’s The Origins of English Words, a gift from a friend several years back. Please feel free to comment on my posts with suggestions for words you’d like to see me dive into.

In closing, here’s a photo of my dear grandpa from a linguistics conference.  That’s him, back row, second in from the right hand side in the striped tie.  He was also a snappy dresser.