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Blog de Lengua EspañolaA blog dealing with descriptive and prescriptive Spanish grammar, as well as vocabulary, etymology, semantics, language history, language change, etc. Authored by Alberto Bustos, a Spanish Linguistics lecturer at Carlos III University in Madrid. |
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Recent Blog Posts
The man who named his son Hummus
on May 22, 2008 in Stories & Anecdotes World of Hummus Abu ancient rome etymology Is it really possible that someone would call his son after a legume, and what does that have to do with ancient Roman Philosophers. Found this amusing story in Bintel Blog, a part of Forward’s online version. The writer, took a cab to Ta̵...
Funny of the Day
on Jun 25, 2008 in Uncategorized english etymology funny italian levity pronunciation vernacular I’m sure you bilingual enthusiasts out there in tv-land will appreciate this: Try pronouncing the Italian phrase “al sole”, meaning “in the sun”, in English. The result is quite comical.
The Behemoth
on Oct 1, 2008 in moths behemoth butterflies food etymology The behe moth was in fact the biggest moth that has ever existed. It had a wingspan of 2 feet and was white in colour making it resemble a small gull. The name comes from the exclamation of disbelief: "Be he moth?", i.e. "Is that really a moth?" beca...
Timecapsule podcast — San Francisco, October 20-26
on Oct 19, 2008 in San Francisco history blog San Francisco history podcasts 1861 1880 1988 article Barbary Coast coffee coffee-house etymology hoodlum James Gamble mormons podcast pony express Salt Lake City San Francisco San Francisco Chronicle san francisco history San Francisco slang San Francisco street names slang street renaming timecapsule trans-continental transcontinental railroad transcontinental telegraph Utah A weekly handful of weird, wonderful and wacky happenings dredged up from the kaleidoscopic depths of San Francisco history. October 24, 1861 The transcontinental telegraph line is finished, literally uniting the United States by wire just as t...
The perennial death of “cool”
on Nov 5, 2008 in history humor trend cool etymology language slang I remember almost exactly when my Mom told me that “all the kids said ‘cool’” in the sixties. It was the early eighties, and after she told me, I watched myself in a mirror, repeating it and giggling that I may as well wear...