Chapter 1
Secrets hidden in our food
Chapter 2
Words born from ancient myths
Chapter 3
Words created by accident
Chapter 4
Global travelers in English
YOUR GOAL
Master of The secret life of words
Ch 3 · Words created by accident
schopenhauer Discover the shared ancient root of the words 'word' and 'verb' in this engaging etymology infographic.
schopenhauer See how backup seeds travel to frozen Arctic chambers to prevent crop extinction.
schopenhauer The word 'pea' was created because English speakers mistakenly thought the singular word 'pease' was plural.
BETA
schopenhauer Spin the wheel to discover the surprising origins of everyday words.
Fun Fact
Syllabus typo: The word syllabus does not exist in classical Latin or Greek; it is entirely the result of a printer's mistake.
Glossary
ghost word (noun)
A word that entered a dictionary or reference work as a result of a printing, scribal, or typographical error. The famous example dord mistakenly appeared in a 1934 dictionary due to a misinterpreted abbreviation for density.
A word that entered a dictionary or reference work as a result of a printing, scribal, or typographical error. The famous example dord mistakenly appeared in a 1934 dictionary due to a misinterpreted abbreviation for density.
Quiz
Which common academic word, meaning a course outline, was created by a 15th-century printing mistake when editors misread a word in the letters of the Roman statesman Cicero?
schopenhauer The word 'nickname' was originally 'an eke name', meaning an additional or added name.
Quiz
The English word 'apron' was created by a spoken language accident called 'rebracketing'. What was the original spelling of this protective garment in Middle English before listeners mistakenly shifted the starting 'N' to the word 'a'?
Quiz
The word 'sherry' was back-formed because English speakers thought the Spanish city name 'Xeres' was what?
Quiz
The word 'syllabus' was created due to a 15th-century printing error of which Roman author's manuscript?
Quiz
How did the word 'umpire' lose its initial letter N from the original French word 'nompere'?