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.