Fun With Words

While browsing a dictionary we came across a number of interesting words and expressions that can be fun to read and useful to know. Enjoy reading and write us your suggestions for the next edition of Fun With Words.

• The you are here arrow on maps is called an ideo locator.
• Cacology [ka-kol-uh-jee] means a bad or faulty choice of words. From Greek kakologia.
• OK [oh-key, oh-key, oh-key] - while there have been many attempts to explain the emergence of OK, the most likely explanation is that the term originated as an abbreviation of oll korrekt, a jokey misspelling of all correct which was current in the US in the 1830s. Okay was the first word spoken on the moon.
• Seoul [sohl, sool, sey-ool] - the capital of South Korea - just means the capital in the Korean language.
• Interrobang [in-ter-uh-bang] is a printed punctuation mark that combines the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!):
• Dynamo [dahy-nuh-moh] is an electric generator, especially for direct current. It is short for German dynamoelektrischemaschine, coined in 1867 by its inventor, electrical engineer Werner Siemans. It originates from the Greek word dynamis, meaning power.
• Bluetooth [bloo-tooth] is a short-range radio technology for Internet and mobile devices. Bluetooth got its name from the 10th century Scandinavian king, Harold Blatant I of Denmark. Bluetooth is the English translation of Blatant. Legends say the king was named Blatant due to his passion for blueberries, which stained his teeth blue. Ten centuries later, the Erricson company in Sweden patented the Bluetooth device.
• Checkmate [chek-meyt] is the winning position in chess in which an opponent’s king is under attack and unable to escape. The term comes from the Persian phrase Shah mat, which means the King is dead.
• Go [goh], meaning to move or proceed, is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
• Clowder [klou-der] is the correct term for referring to a group of cats.
• Alarm [uh-lahrm] is a six century old word that originates from Old Italian all'arme, meaning 'to arms'.
• The word run [ruhn] has 179 meanings. But don’t believe us; check http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/run?__utma=1.447381152.1334591425.1343756911.1343756947.13&__utmb=1.19.9.1343757256642&__utmc=1&__utmx=&__utmz=1.1343215388.11.6.utmcsr=google|utmccn=%28organic%29|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=%28not%20provided%29&__utmv=&__utmk=36687392
• Vampire ['væmpa??] is the only word from the Serbo-Croatian vocabulary that has found a place in the English language. The term dates back to the 18th century, when Austria gained control of parts of Serbia and Romania, and the officials noted the local practice of exhuming bodies and piercing them through the chest.
• Denim [den-uhm] is a cotton fabric for jeans and leisure garments. It was developed in the city of Nimes in France and called Serge di Nimes, later shortened to di Nimes, then to denim.
• Town [toun] is the oldest word in the English language, dating back to the 8th century.
• Goodbye [good-bahy] is a contraction of God be with ye.