The Word Hound: by Jan Haber
More word origins we like Colorful flourishes often hide in everyday words. Here are a few the Word Hound’s favorites. Sinister In Latin, sinister means left. Latin for right is dexter. In the old days, people were superstitious about left-handedness. Things appearing from the left (like flights of birds) portended misfortune; sinister acquired a sense of harmful, unfavorable,... Read More
Word Hound: He-e-e-re Fido By Jan Haber
Fido is a kind of generic name for a domestic dog, though few people seem to choose it as the name for the family pooch. We set Word Hound on Fido’s trail and found some surprises. Fido (Latin, gender masculine) for I am faithful. Abraham Lincoln’s dog was named Fido. Read More Read More
