Posts Tagged: history

  • A cartoon image of vikings in a longboat with Danish products. A burning monastery is in the background.

    Danish and “Viking marketing”

    In AD 793 the Viking Age was kicked off when Viking raiders attacked Lindisfarne, an island off the northeast coast of England, plundered its Christian monastery, killed or enslaved the monks and appropriated its religious treasures. The Vikings were undoubtedly accomplished shipbuilders, sailors and traders, but their economic model was simpler—to leverage the quality of […]

  • A young girl holding an educational plastic skeleton

    Anatomy—Male names for female anatomy

    Anatomical naming of the bones and organs of humans was nearly always done by men. The medical profession in the 19th century was almost entirely male so female anatomy was nearly always named by men. In a recent episode of the ABC’s Late Night Live (19 June) Dr Adam Taor (author of Bodypedia) and Dr […]

  • Tim Entwisle and John Entwisle at William Dalrymple at Sydney City Recital Hall 31 October 2024.

    Algorithm and algebra

    William Dalrymple and The Golden Road My younger son, John, recently (31 October 2024) took me to a lecture by the historian William Dalrymple, who was promoting his most recent book, The Golden Road. He tells the story of India’s role as a cultural and scientific superpower of the ancient world and as a major […]

  • AI generated image (plus PSing) of three assassins in the Middle East

    When did murder become assassination?

    With several assassination attempts on Donald Trump occurring in the last few months (September 2024) it’s worth examining the history of assassination and the origin of the word. Assassination means killing leaders and notable figures for political gain. This political gain may include to seize power, spark revolution, draw attention to a cause, seek revenge, […]

  • Image from page 364 of "With Byron in Itlay; a selection of the poems and letters of Lord Byron relating to his life in Italy. Edited by Anna Benneson McMahan" (1907)

    Byronic Bicentenary

    Today (19 April 2024) is the 200th anniversary of the death of George Gordon Byron, known to us as Lord Byron. He was a hugely popular poet of his day. The characters in his long poems and his own colourful life have given us the adjective “Byronic”. To understand being Byronic it is important to […]

  • Image of chocolate bar with chillis next to it

    Chilli chocolate

    When we think of chocolate, it is as an indulgence—a decadent bar, a box of little sea shells shapes or something wrapped in colourful foils. We can even drink a bit of hot chocolate to warm us up in the winter. One of my favourites chocolate indulgences is chilli chocolate, it gives you a double […]

  • Glastonbury Tor with spectacular cloud behind

    Metaphorical places—crossing the Rubicon and finding El Dorado

    I find great pleasure in seeing how history is embedded in our language with words having travelled with us through many generations. I was thinking particularly about how certain places have become metaphors for the attributes that they are most well known for. Here are some of the most well-known metaphorical places Crossing The Rubicon […]

  • AI generated (with photoshop) Image of King Charles as UFC fighter with voice bubble saying "You want the crown? You come and get it!" He is not a carolingian but a windsor.

    Is Charles a Carolingian?

    The coronation of Charles III We have just left the Elizabethan era and are about to have King Charles III coronated into what some people are calling the Carolingian era. Its not really right and people are confusing what it means. My views of the monarchy have changed over the years. I do now wonder […]

  • ast week (5 April 2018) saw the passing of Eric Bristow, the five times World Darts Champion known as the Crafty Cockney. Our word of the week is oche to remember him.

    Farewell from the oche Eric Bristow

    Last week (5 April 2018) saw the passing of Eric Bristow, the five times World Darts Champion known as the Crafty Cockney. He is no longer at the oche. As one sports commentator cleverly wrote, Bristow died at the age of treble twenty, sixty being the highest achievable score with one dart. Reading of Bristow’s […]

  • Image of wreath at a war memorial saying Their name liveth for evermore -- the ultimate sacrifice

    Sacrifice—lest we forget

    It is the 105th Anniversary of Anzac Day today and I am reposting one of my most meaningful words of the week. Sacrifice means to give something of value, often altruistically, with the hope of gaining something in return or to avoid greater loss. And from this comes supreme sacrifice: to give your life in the belief that […]

  • Map of Ceylon, once Serendipity

    How do you get to serendipity?

    Serendipity must be one of my favourite words. Its adoption into English is a wonderful story. In 1754 Horace Walpole, the son of Prime Minister Robert Walpole, composed a letter that introduced serendipity into the English language: … It was once when I read a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses travelled, […]

  • IMAGE: codpiece on funerary statue. Meaning: The rather mundane word, bracket, has a sexier history than you would expect from something found in a hardware store.

    Not so square bracket

    The rather mundane word, bracket, has a sexier history than you might expect. A word that changes its meaning can be either an example of melioration, where the word takes on a more favorable connotation or deterioration where it takes on a more negative association. So how will we describe the change in the Spanish word, bragueta (from which English has borrowed bracket), which was initially a word for codpiece but became used for the object that holds up a shelf?