Category Etymology

Cracking the shell: Why the world is your oyster

After graduating, she realized the world was her oyster as she had multiple offers. With the new funding, the budding entrepreneur feels the world is his oyster and is planning bold new ventures. “The world is your oyster” means that…

A lampoon that launched a word

A pasquinade is a satirical piece of writing, a lampoon or public mockery, typically posted or published anonymously and aimed at a specific person or institution. IN USEDuring the election season, anonymous posters appeared overnight, each a biting pasquinade aimed at rival…

The sacred boundary of the word “profane”

Long before the word “profane” carried its modern meaning of disrespect or vulgarity, it described something far more literal — physical position. Derived from the Latin pro fanum, meaning “before or outside the temple,” the word originally separated two kinds…

Why cruel pleasure is called “sadism”

Sadism refers to deriving pleasure from inflicting pain, humiliation, or suffering on others. The term comes from Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), a French aristocrat whose life was as transgressive as his writing. De Sade spent nearly three decades in prisons…

Boycott: the man who gave protest its name

The word boycott means to deliberately refuse cooperation (such as buying, selling, or dealing with a person or organization) to express protest or apply pressure. The term comes from Charles Boycott, a British army captain turned land agent in 19th-century…