Posts Tagged: weapon

  • AI image based on Claggett Wilson (1887–1952) picture "Rosalie, Rosalie! Rosalie is the Nickname for the French Bayonet"

    Bayonet

    The origin of the word “bayonet” is linked to the town of Bayonne in the French Basque country. There are several different stories that explain the link but in different ways. One suggestion is that the creation of the bayonet occurred during a peasant revolt in Bayonne in the 1660s, when the peasants, short of […]

  • 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, […]

  • A dole bludger is defined politely as an unemployed person who has no intention of seeking a job and survives on government-funded unemployment benefits.

    Budget time for dole bludgers

    Every year around the release of the Australian budget I think back to when I was a young man trying to find a job.  There was always a debate around budget time about the amount of money that should be spent on unemployment benefits. Getting unemployment benefits The social-minded would argue that it was too difficult […]

  • Picture of a tank with soldiers posing on top of it

    Tank

    While in the UK in 2105 we went to the Imperial War Museum. I was looking forward to seeing some WWI tanks but there were very few there. However, I did pick up a little word history: tanks as armoured, gun-mounted vehicles moving on caterpillar tracks got their name as part of their top-secret development […]

  • Bucklers at three paces

    You can’t be a swashbuckler without a sword

    A swashbuckler is a brave and flamboyant person that engages in daring and romantic adventures. We have always loved best our film swashbucklers who fight evil, rescue fair maidens and save their less brave compatriots from certain death with lots of derring-do. Even though we should recognise all romantic adventurers as swashbucklers we still know […]

  • Falstaff with a buckler

    Buckler

    The buckler is a small shield that became very popular in the 16th century. The name is derived from the Old French word bocler, meaning having a boss, a raised centre, which was a feature of the small shield. The word swashbuckler is derived from swash, which means the sound of a heavy blow, combined […]

  • Scythian archer with toxin on their arrows

    Toxin and the poison arrow

    The use of poisoned arrows by the Scythians is one of the earliest known examples of biological warfare, that is, the use of toxins to deliberately injure or kill. Remarkably, two and a half thousand years after Scythian archers used toxins on their arrows we are using the Ancient Greek word almost in its original […]

  • Hoist with his own petard (AI generated from old image)

    Hoist with your own petard

    Petard is a word that survives in the modern world entirely in the expression hoist with his own petard. It means someone fails because of their own plans or because of their own deviousness. It is usually understood that its literal meaning is to be blown up with your own bomb. But there is a […]