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Today, Jess Zafarris helps us look at the surprising true origins of words:
* Why "miniature" originally referred to a red color and not a size.
* Why a "factoid" wasn't originally a fact.
* How "hello" only became a common greeting because of the telephone.
* How "gasoline" comes from a person's name.
Plus, we get Jess's book recommendations!
WATCH: https://youtu.be/yyXyepBZZkc
READ: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/1167/transcript
LISTEN: https://pod.link/173429229
@grammargirl Bell didn't really like "hello," he was pushing for "ahoy."
Glad he didn't design toilets, who knows what the hell he would have used instead of a flush handle. A paint scraper or a golf club, maybe.
@grammargirl AFAIC, a factoid still isn't a fact, any more than a banana is a carburetor or 'nukular' is valid.
Anyone's welcome to climb this hill and call me a deceased prescriptivist.
@grammargirl I seem to recall from living in Germany a long time ago that Germans would answer the phone by just stating their last name.
@Nonya_Bidniss The beginning of my podcast starting with "Grammar Girl here" is a direct result of me having taken German in high school.
This is a forward thinking server running the Bonfire social media platform.
LGBTQA+ and BPOC friendly.
