Education

Word of the Day:
higgledy-piggledy
\hig-ul-dee-PIG-ul-dee\
adverb

: in a confused, disordered, or random manner

We really have no idea where “higgledy-piggledy” came from, but we do know it’s a perfect example of English speakers’ fondness for reduplication; that is, for forming new words by repetition of a base word with just a slight change of sound. In this case, the “base” word might actually be the second term, which is loosely reminiscent of “pig” and calls to mind the possible association of pigs with disorderliness. (Nathaniel Hawthorne, at least, noted a connection: “pigs, on a march, do not subject themselves to any leader among themselves, but pass on, higgledy-piggledy, without regard to age or sex.”) We also know that the word has been around since before 1600; it appeared as a translation of an Italian word in a 1598 Italian-English dictionary. According to that dictionary, the Italian term could also be translated as “pell-mell” or “helter-skelter” — two other examples of reduplication.

Courtesy of Merriam-Webster Online.

Word of the Day:
bird-dog
\BURD-dog\
verb

1 : to watch closely
2 : to seek out : follow, detect

People began using “bird-dog” as a verb meaning “to closely watch someone or something” or “to doggedly seek out someone or something” in the early 20th century. Both meanings reflect skills likely to be possessed by a well-trained bird dog. By the 1940s, “bird-dogging” was being used specifically as a term for stealing someone else’s date. And, not long after that, it began to be used for the scouting out of customers or prospective talent. The noun “bird dog” is also used as a name for the date stealers and scouts who do the bird-dogging.

Courtesy of Merriam-Webster Online.

Anecdote

is not the same as

Antidote

Images courtesy of New York Public Library