Why do we say ‘break a leg’ before a performance? There are many popular theories, some far-flung, some viable. This episode looks at the phrase’s most likely etymological candidates while debunking a few others.

Our idiomatic sense of ‘apple of the eye’ comes from an Early Modern English translation of a Hebrew expression from the Old Testament.

The idiom ‘in a pickle’ emerged in the English language when the meaning of ‘pickle’ was broader than just a ‘gherkin.’

In this general overview of idioms, we learn why idioms are syntactically and semantically peculiar, how idioms emerge, how idioms fossilize archaic grammar, and more.

‘Cannibal’ is first recorded in Christopher Columbus’ travelogues from his first voyage to the New World. The word is derived from the name of a native group who allegedly ate human flesh.

The Philistines were one of the Israelites’ enemies in the Hebrew Bible, but ‘philistine’ as a word for an uncultured person more directly traces back to a 17th century murder in Jena, Germany.

Bohemia is a region in the Czech Republic. So why do we refer to a carefree, unorthodox lifestyle as bohemian? Our current sense of the word is a byproduct of ethnic migrations, geographical misunderstandings, and outright racism.

What do gothic clothing, Gothic architecture, Gothic fonts, and the Goths who sacked Rome all have in common?

In this interview, I speak with Steve Kaufmann, polyglot and co-founder of the language learning platform LingQ.

In Old English, the word ‘wife’ meant ‘woman,’ and the word for ‘woman’ was ‘wife!’

What makes your parents’ parents so ‘grand?’ And what makes your parents’ parents’ parents so ‘great?’

‘Sibling’ might seem like one of our most basic kinship terms, but it actually didn’t come into usage until the 20th century.

Most nursery words for father in unrelated languages from around the world contain initial D, P, or B sounds. Coincidence? Connections?

In the vast majority of languages around the world, the word for ‘mama’ sounds something like ... ‘mama.’ Where does this near universality come from?

Webster’s 1828 dictionary was a markedly different work than the other English dictionaries that preceded it. As the first truly American dictionary, it played an important role in defining the American lexicon and its spelling.

Before Noah Webster wrote his pivotal American English dictionary, he was a politically motivated advocate for American English spelling reforms.

Although ‘OK’ is the most spoken and written word in the entire world, it only came into existence under 200 years ago. Its origins? A long-forgotten inside joke that managed to spread far and wide.

Why were Union soldiers called Yankees during the Civil War? Was it a word they called themselves or a term of disparagement? And how does the baseball team fit into the picture?

The pronunciation of the R sound, aka rhoticity, is one of the most prominent differences between modern British and American English. However, the prominence of rhoticity in American English is a relatively recent development.

Shortly after British colonists landed in the New World, American English began to develop characteristics distinct from its parent language across the pond.