The Love of Words


As a child, when I'd say "hey!", my mother would tell me "Hay is for horses, not for people." The first spelling test my father gave me was to spell and explain the difference between all the words pronounced "too." I was encouraged to be fascinated with words. The very idea that two or more words which sounded alike could have such different meanings seemed like magic.

As I got older, of course, I understood more about how language is formed and created. But I never quit being enthralled with words, and particularly with the twists and turns that words have taken over their centuries long journey to get into modern English.

This is intended as an on-going journal of my awe with words, their meanings, and mostly, their derivations, or etymology.
 
 
Hockey (not the game)
Pennard Hill
Dinner with the Normans
Uncle
Quartz and Siren
Mail
Lap
Write when you learn how
Step
Set
Frozen constructions
Signed, sealed and delivered
Sum and substance
Language Books