origin of the word ‘captcha’
early 21st century—acronym from ‘Completely Automatic Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart’, with punning allusion to ‘capture’ and ‘gotcha’
Read More“ad fontes!”
early 21st century—acronym from ‘Completely Automatic Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart’, with punning allusion to ‘capture’ and ‘gotcha’
Read MoreThe ladybird was so named on account of its seven spots, which were popularly believed to symbolise the seven sorrows of the Virgin Mary.
Read MoreThe word ‘folklore’ was coined in 1846 by the British author William John Thoms, inspired by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s anthology of German fairy tales.
Read MoreUK, 1971, in graffiti—preceded by a proper or common noun in the singular or plural; used to assert the pre-eminence of a specified person or thing
Read More1571—probably from obsolete French ‘de pointe en blanc’, used of firing into empty space for the purpose of seeing how far a piece of artillery would carry
Read Morealludes to the calming effect of oil on the agitated surface of water; common knowledge since ancient times, first scientifically observed by Benjamin Franklin
Read Morelate 17th century—probably based on the resemblance between the shape of the heart and that of a cockleshell – or of the body the shell protects
Read More‘on the righteous side’—originally used in 1864 by Benjamin Disraeli to contrast the theory of evolution with the theory of the divine creation of humankind
Read MoreThe word ‘oxymoron’ has the property it denotes: it is from Greek ‘oxús’, meaning ‘sharp’, ‘acute’, and ‘mōrόs’, meaning ‘dull’, ‘stupid’.
Read Morea sweet smell produced when rain falls on parched earth—1964; literally ‘tenuous essence derived from rock or stone’, from Greek ‘petro’ and ‘ichor’
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