He also wrote a short chapter, "Who Named All the Cities," [46] for a book compiled by Gemma Elwin Harris called Big Questions from Little People Answered by Some Very Big People. [47] Radio and TED Talk appearances [ edit ] The modern day name derives from 'Cynsige', an Anglo-Saxon subsistence farmer who is portrayed as Kensi; 'ing' meaning 'family of'; and 'ton' for farm' – overall giving it the name of the 'farm of the family of Cynsige'. There is a labyrinth beneath the language: strange connections and tunnels, secret doors that connect absurd things. Take, for example, the hidden passage between pterodactyls and helicopters. Ptero was the Greek word for wing, this allows for the dinosaur with a finger on its wing, the pterodactyl, and for the aircraft whose wings move in a spiral, the helico-pter. Most people miss that latter one because they think that it’s somehow a compound of heli and copter; but it’s that old Greek pt doing all the lifting. Incidentally, the mini in miniature has nothing whatsoever to do with the mini in minute or minimum or miniskirt. In Medieval illuminated manuscripts there were little pictures painted by little monks. These pictures were often painted using red lead or minium. Because of that the verb for painting little pictures was miniare. And because of that the little pictures were called miniatures. The word then got applied to anything small. Theydon Bois is one of three Theydon parishes which took its name from the De Bosco family - written as 'Bois' in the present-day name, which held the manor in the 12th and 13th centuries. The name Theydon is thought to mean a valley where thatch grows. The Tube station was opened as just 'Theydon' in 1865 but renamed later that year.

If you are hungry for a feast of mildly interesting linguistic factoids with which to gorge yourself and potentially vomit all over everyone around you, never fear - this book offers a bounteous buffet. In the introduction, Forsyth admits that the reason the book exists is to give him an outlet for all of his rambling and useless etymological knowledge, so that he need not continue to torment acquaintances with it. "Unlike me," he says, "a book could be left snugly on the bedside table or beside the lavatory: opened at will and closed at will." There are also some amusing names on the Piccadilly line, such as 'Houses on the Waste Land Terminal 4' for Heathrow Terminal 4, 'Reedy Jumping-Spot Manor' for Ruislip Manor and 'Bridge of the Wixan Tribe' for Uxbridge. Forsyth, Mark (11 March 2011). "The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language". Iconbooks.com. Icon Books . Retrieved 9 January 2015. Mark Forsyth (born 2 April 1977) [1] [2] is a British writer of non-fiction who came to prominence with a series of books concerning the meaning and etymology of English words. [3] The word slogan, as in advertising slogan, is an ancient Irish word. Once upon a very long time ago, noble Gaelic warriors would muster for battle on some misty moor. The two armies would face each other, draw their ancient swords, and charge, whilst shouting over and over again their army-cry or slua-gairm.

And the Russian Orthodox Church is stillon the Julian calendar, which is why they have their Christmas in what we call January. This even caused some kerfuffle in Ukraine, with people undecided about whether to use the Western date or the Russian (boo!) one. Salt was infinitely more valuable in the ancient world than it is today. To the Romans salt was white, tasty gold. Legionaries were given a special stipend just to buy themselves salt and make their food bearable, this was called the “salarium” and it’s where we get the English world “Salary”, which is really just “salt-money.” Particularly good ... Forsyth takes words and draws us into their, and our, murky history.' William Leith, Evening Standard.

Assassin" is related to the word "hashish", in reference to a medieval cult of hitmen so proficient and determined that everyone assumed they were all on dope.But the week was just popular. It spread northward even without planets to pull it there. It is strange to think that there is no seven-day week in Homer, nor in any of the Greek dramatists; and strange to think that this arbitrary seven day cycle has been running without pause for at least two and half thousand years, probably much longer.

The fact that there is a kind of rightness to words, a rightness to their sound and their feel in your mouth, is a very odd idea. Saussure talks about the arbitrary nature of the sign, but there are limits to how arbitrary the sign can really be. Most Londoners would think they've never changed Underground trains at Peasant Street or Bridge Over An Unfordable River, but it's quite likely they have – at least when the meanings of those stations are scrutinised. Pancallism is the belief that everything is beautiful, or at least everything that exists, which is quite a lot of things. Israel-Hamas war LIVE: Israeli airstrikes destroy 300 targets in Gaza and Lebanon overnight as WHO warns of 'imminent public health catastrophe' a b Evans, David (14 September 2014). "The Elements of Eloquence". The Independent. London (UK): Independent Print Ltd. p.20.I came across the word pancallistic (the adjective) while reading Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages by Umberto Eco. The book's a little dry, but it's beautifully short. The Unknown Unknown: Bookshops and the Delight of Not Getting What You Wanted (Icon Books, 2014) ISBN 978-1-848-31784-0 Anyway, there are a lot of pelicans on the west coast of America. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the bay of St Francis they found an island absolutely covered with them. So they named it Pelican Island. Except being Spaniards they did it all in Spanish. And that's why San Francisco bay contains the island of Alcatraz, because alcatraz is just Spanish for pelican. It comes from the Arabic al ghattas meaning sea-eagle.

The Kensington section from the Environs of London by John Rocque, 1741-1745, which shows when the area was mostly farmland The Unknown Unknown, by Mark Forsyth, book review: Where to find answers to questions you didn't ask". The Independent. Independent.co.uk. 9 January 2015. Archived from the original on 6 July 2014 . Retrieved 9 January 2015.Next stop Cynsige's farm! The unusual origins of Tube station names from Anglo-Saxon farmer behind High Street Kensington to fisherman who inspired Edgware Road verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ This whole amusing situation lasted until 1752, when Britain finally capitulated and joined the Gregorian Catholics. That in turn really pissed off our colonists in North America, and caused the American revolution. The book is a popular scientific description of the history of mankind's relationship with alcoholic beverages. The author begins with the Paleolithic period, and then examines the cultures of such countries and epochs as Sumer, ancient Egypt, the Aztec Empire, antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Muslim world, the Wild West, the Prohibition era, and Russia. The descriptions are accompanied by short excursions into history, anthropology, and sociology. When the Christians came along they obviously tried to Christianise things. Saturday was the sabbath and Sunday was the Lord's Day, thus the Spanish Sabado and Domingo. But the week spread much faster than Christianity did. It arrived in Northern Europe while they were still pagan. That's why in English (and German) the days were passed over to equivalent pagan gods.