Why is the practice of eating human flesh called Cannibalism?
The practice, also called anthropophagy, is derived from the Spanish word for the Caribs.
The Caribs were a West Indian tribe known for cannibalism.
The practice, also called anthropophagy, is derived from the Spanish word for the Caribs.
The Caribs were a West Indian tribe known for cannibalism.
The phrase “to 86” generally means “put an end to”. It is said to have been part of a number code used in diners and soda fountains. In those early days, 86 meant “we’re out of that dish,” “don’t serve that customer,” or “don’t serve another drink to that customer because he’s already had too…
Semantics is the study of meaning. Approached from the philosophical point of view, it involves the relationships between words; approached from the linguistic point of view, it deals with changes in meaning over time. Semiotics is the study of signs and the use of signs in human communication.
You should not use the word irregardless ever. The word is redundant because the negative prefix “ir” does the same work as the negative suffix “less”. Use regardless instead. Irregardless, some folks use it anyway.
The word bedlam, now used to describe a scene of uproar and confusion, was originally a contraction of Bethlehem. It referred to Saint Mary of Bethlehem, a religious house in London that was converted into a hospital for the insane in 1402. The term came to mean a lunatic asylum, one of its inmates, or…
It depends on whom you ask. Some editors will still change “to boldly go where no man has gone before” to “to go boldly . . .” But other pundits now consider the taboo against split infinitives all but passé. The taboo was introduced by eighteenth and nineteenth-century grammarians for unknown reasons.
The phrase “In Like Flynn” is believed to have originated with Ed Flynn. Flynn was head of New York City’s Democratic party machine from 1922 to 1953. Flynn’s political machine was always “in” power. The phrase gained further popularity in 1942, when swashbuckling actor Errol Flynn (1909-1959) was tried and acquitted on charges of the…