Apples grow on trees, and the government prints money. And words — words come from, well, other words. For example, the Lilliputians of Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” lent their name to a ...

If you are word-curious, you can use this book to figure out what a micromere is or what pododynia means. If you are a student of medicine or biology, you can use it as a shortcut to mastering the ...

You have seen the cartoons. A gaunt man in a white robe with a long white beard carries a sign that reads, “repent.” A smarty-pants caption accompanies the cartoon. For most people, repentance means ...

A Janus word or phrase has two meanings, each the opposite of the other. Janus words are named after the two-faced Roman god of archways and doors, Janus. There are many such words in English, the ...