World Wide Words

World Wide Words newsletter and website ( are written by Michael Quinion.

[World Wide Words @wwwordseditor]

After 12 years my separate Dictionary of Affixes site was beginning to look very tired. One positive result of the coronavirus lockdown is that I've had time to bring the site up to modern web standards. Try it and tell me what you think: https://t.co/BSTxqPR8Zu.

[World Wide Words @wwwordseditor]

There's life in the old dog yet. I've been quoted in the Washington Post https://t.co/op723X1i4i about the origins of "impeach". I first wrote about it in 1998 concerning Bill Cinton; that piece is here https://t.co/Hz8I8nUm1c What goes around comes around ...

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Word File: Hippodroming - 'Hippodroming' is an old American colloquial term. https://t.co/C1tb318IVj

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Word File: Bee’s knees - How did the saying 'the bee's knees' originate? https://t.co/LRwzCyhFu0

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Word File: Two-car funeral - An effective US test for incompetence is whether a person could organise a 'Two-car funeral'. https://t.co/CbbyVSAwYC

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Word File: Eighty-six - What is the story behind the bar and restaurant term 'eighty-six'? https://t.co/5o1c6mnG8d

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Word File: All Sir Garnet - 'All Sir Garnet' was once a catchphrase of the British Army. It commemorates a famous soldier. https://t.co/Pixbt9h2WE

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Word File: Handicap - What is the origin of 'handicap'? https://t.co/VglOAx2v1e

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Word File: Concinnity - 'Concinnity' is today a skilful and harmonious arrangement but is linked to a Roman mixed drink. https://t.co/V5VZnX87Pa

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Word File: Colcannon Night - Once upon a time, 'Colcannon Night' was an anternative name for Halloween. https://t.co/Grg5qV7Sva

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Word File: Black as Newgate knocker - An old expression 'black as Newgate knocker' recalls an awful period in British penal history. https://t.co/HL4HMTXgUf

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Word File: Stepney - In India, a 'Stepney' is a spare wheel. It's from an early British motoring success story. https://t.co/DbinvjgxIk

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Word File: Alegar and beeregar - The story behind the Weird Words 'alegar and beeregar'. https://t.co/0twkWXudNY

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Word File: Carwichet - Once, you might have described a play on words as a 'Carwichet', one of a set of similar words long since vanished from English. https://t.co/i8hEEBIi4h

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Word File: Lukewarm - In 'Lukewarm', we are asked, who is Luke? https://t.co/SkfIFb7X2Q

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Word File: Toast - When we toast somebody, what's the link with browned bread? https://t.co/a0dMv3FL4M

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Word File: Tit for tat - What's the story behind the odd idiom 'tit for tat'? https://t.co/C8OeCAaZEp

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Word File: Willy-nilly - A common-enough phrase, 'willy-nilly', but it's one whose second element is long since defunct. https://t.co/R2aEtC4UBt

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Word File: French fries - What is the origin of the term 'French fries'. https://t.co/QQxvkp0rS4

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Word File: Antimacassar - We don't use 'antimacassars' any more, because there's no reason to, which makes the word mysterious. https://t.co/HLdSGQRaoG