Category Archives: The English Language

The Origin of Serendipity

One of my favorite subjects is finding useful words and learning how they evolve. That’s one reason I subscribe to “The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor” from American Public Media. The “Almanac” sends me literary news with a poem every day. This is how I learned that the first use of  the word “serendipity” was

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Facing Your Fears

In a previous post I mentioned aibohphobia as the fear of palindromes (and which itself is a palindrome).  Which leads to the question — how many things are there to be afraid of? Lots. My Webster’s New World College Dictionary  lists phobia as “an irrational, excessive, and persistent fear of some particular thing or situation”,

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Thai Words in English

Yesterday’s column piqued a friend’s curiosity. In an email he asked what Thai words that I remember have made it into English? My tour of duty in Southeast Asia was 1972-73, but I quickly remembered one word — nitnoy. It’s online in the Urban Dictionary. Nitnoy — “A little bit” – from Thai “Nit Noi”.

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