Look up cadger in the dictionary and you will find its primary meaning has a very negative connotation. A cadger is someone who begs or borrows without any intent to repay the debt. Drop the trailing r and you have…

Clue has undergone a radical transformation from its original meaning to its present day usage, and it’s all due to a famous story. If you asked someone in medieval England for a clue, they would not give you information to…

Like many words, the meaning of eerie has altered over the centuries. Ask anyone today and they’ll likely tell you it describes something mysterious, uncanny, or spine-chilling. We’re not quite sure about something eerie. We just know it’s strange, not…

It’s Burns Night, the anniversary of the birth (January 25, 1759) of Robert Burns. Let’s celebrate with something Scottish. Haggis, a traditional Scottish dish and a must-have for a Burns Night meal, is a type of sausage made from sheep’s…

Ever had a clock that runs widdershins? Ever run widdershins around a church or ring of toadstools? If you’ve ever seen the sun going widdershins, you’re either in the Southern Hemisphere or you need to return your compass. It’s defective.…

Vair is a little-used word that will give squirrels nightmares. It means squirrel fur, specifically the white and bluish-gray fur of the Eurasian Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris). In Northern and Central Europe, the Eurasian Red Squirrel’s winter coat is blueish-gray…

Goblins abound in fantasy literature, from Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market to George MacDonald’s The Princess and the Goblin to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, but where does the word come from? And what is a goblin? Goblins come in many shapes…

No, this is not Santa’s worst nightmare. Elflocked to his chair by the fire on Christmas eve. Elves do have an unfortunate sense of humor. Nor is it some clever password. ELF-locked as in SHER-locked. It’s worse, much worse. Elflock (or…

Here’s another one of those funky words with opposite meanings depending on the context and a great word for fans of fantasy literature. Cleave can mean to adhere to something or to split something, as in skulls. Consider these examples:…

What does a snakeskin have in common with a swamp? (Aside from some snakes living in swamps.) The answer is slough, one of those odd words whose pronunciation determines its meaning and whose path to modern English is the convergence…