The English language is brutal. I don’t envy anyone coming to this country without any English speaking skills because I’ve lived here my whole life and I still don’t have a handle on everything. Virtually everything that we talk about or speak about originally came from our distant past going back thousands of years. I thought I was up-to-speed as far as the language goes but once again I was sadly mistaken. Today’s post will introduce you to some words that you’re familiar with and others not so much. When I can I will identify the original word. As always, answers are at the end and no peeking please.

✒️✒️✒️

• What is the meaning of the Greek word “kosmetikos”, from which we get the word cosmetics?

• A milligram is a thousandth of a gram. What’s a “picogram”?

• What do “noologists” study?

• What kind of voice does someone have if he or she is “oxyphonic”?

• What does the word “climax” mean in Greek?

📝📝📝

• How did the “duffel” bag in its name?

• What’s the difference between a nook and a cranny?

• What word originated as the nickname for a English insane asylum?

• What flowers name means nose-twitching in Latin – a name bestowed upon it because of its pungent aroma?

• A bibliophile is a collector of rare books. What is a “bibliopole”?

✏️✏️✏️

• What was the original meaning of the word “clue”?

• What is the origin of the expression “on the Q. T.”?

• What is the literal translation of the pasta “vermicelli”?

• What were the very first item is referred to as gadgets?

• What is a “funambulist”?

🖋️🖋️🖋️

Answers

Skilled in decorating, 1 trillionth of a gram, The mind, Unusually shrill, “Ladder”. In Greece is spelled klimax, From the Belgian town of Duffel, A nook is a corner; a cranny is a crack, Bedlam, The nasturtium, A seller of rare books, A ball of thread or yarn – which makes the concept of unraveling a clue all the more meaningful, The word quiet – from its first and last letters, Little worms, Miniatures of the Statue of Liberty sold in Europe in 1886, A tightrope walker.