• Puzzled by Posh?
  Confounded by Cattycorner?
  Baffled by Balderdash?
  Flummoxed by Flabbergast?
  Perplexed by Pandemonium?
  Nonplussed by... Nonplussed?
  Annoyed by Alliteration?
  

  

  Don't be shy!
  Send in your question!

   

• New Archives

  Select Category columns    April 2007    April 2008    August 2007    August 2008    December 2007    February 2008    January 2007    January 2008    July 2008    June 2007    March 2007    March 2008    November 2008    October 2008 Odds and Ends readme sideblog Subscriber Content    April 17, 2008    April 3, 2008    August 11, 2008    August 25, 2008    December 1, 2008    July 14, 2008    July 28, 2008    June 16, 2008    June 30, 2008    March 21, 2008    May 21, 2008    May 3, 2008    May 30, 2008    November 17, 2008    November 3, 2008    October 20, 2008    October 6, 2008    September 22, 2008    September 8, 2008

•  

  Alphabetical Index
  of Columns January 2007 to present.

   

• Old Archives

   

  Columns from 1995 through 2006
  

  can be found here

   

•  

   

   

   

• Other language sites

  • American Dialect Society
  • American Heritage Dictionary
  • Ask for It by Name
  • Double-Tongued Word Wrester Dictionary
  • Language Log
  • My Favorite Word
  • Online Etymology Dictionary
  • The Word Detective Bookstore
  • Web of Language
  • World Wide Words

• Why not?

  • Ask Mister Bunny
  • Cute Overload
  • Metafilter
  • Modern Mouser
  • MS Observer
  • reddit
  • Slashdot

• Trivia

  All contents herein (except the illustrations, which are in the public domain) are Copyright © 1995-2008 Evan Morris. Reproduction without written permission is prohibited, with the exception that teachers in public schools may duplicate and distribute the material here for classroom use.

  Any typos found are yours to keep.

  And remember, kids,
  Semper Ubi Sub Ubi

   

• That Stuff

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org

If you enjoyed this article, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed this article, please subscribe.

← Previous Page — Next Page →

• Sideblog

  An annex to this site for parking odds and ends, news about words & language, and general weirdness you might enjoy. Visit the Sideblog!

   

   

• Recent Posts

  • my office
  • Protected: Stars and garters
  • Protected: Roughshod
  • Protected: Renege
  • Protected: Potter’s field
  • Protected: Potluck
  • Protected: Boffin
  • a very angry palindrome
  • What do you call the shop on the corner? - Boing Boing
  • November 2008 Issue
  • Square
  • Stogie & Slewfoot
  • Ruckus
  • Fall between the cracks
  • Old bean

• Recent Reader Comments

  • james on Crikey
  • Partha on Fall between the cracks
  • Alan mayn on Ears pinned back
  • Salvar on GNU/Linux
  • Karen Martinez on Fall between the cracks
  • Bill McCray on Fall between the cracks
  • words1 on Axe
  • George on Axe
  • Jack on What do you call the shop on the corner? - Boing Boing
  • C. on Geezer
  • James M. Grandone on Grand (one thousand)
  • Paul Nichols on Square
  • Paul James on Ears pinned back
  • Max Alasca on Chogie
  • James Burlker on Mondegreen

•  

   

   

  Ask for It by Name!
  
  The origins of popular
  product names.
  

   

   

  Please support
  The Word Detective
  (and see each issue
  much sooner)
  

  by Subscribing.

  If you are already a subscriber, you can find Subscriber Content here.

   

   

  My Favorite Word
  

  Everyone has a favorite word.
  What's yours?

   

•  

  

  If you would like to be notified when each monthly update is posted here, sign up for our free Topica email notification list.

   

   

  And don't forget to visit

  

  How Come?

  for answers to the science questions you've always wondered about.

  Ask a question, win a book!

  Updated 8/20 with new answers!