Our Word for Wednesday theme for December is words you only hear at Christmas. Over December, we’ve looked at the words carol, tidings and merry. Our final word for 2022 is yule. The words yule and yuletide are old-fashioned terms for Christmas and the festive season which takes place from December 24th to January 6th. The word yuletide dates to the fifteenth century while yule dates to the seventeenth century. Yule comes from the Old English ‘geol’ meaning ‘Chrismastide’, which in comes from an Old Norse name for the winter feast ‘jol’. Some sources propose that the Old Norse e...
Our Word for Wednesday theme for December is words you only hear at Christmas. So far, we’ve looked at the words carol and tidings. Today’s word is merry. The word merry is used to describe something that is cheerful, fun, and lively. Like the word tidings in last week’s blog post, merry pops ups in Christmas songs and greetings but seems to hide away for the rest of the year. The word comes from the Old English ‘myrge’ meaning ‘pleasing’ or ‘sweet’. ‘Myrge’ comes from the Proto-Germanic ‘murgijaz’ which likely meant ‘short-lasting’ and comes from t...
Our Word for Wednesday theme for December is words you only hear at Christmas. Last week, we looked at the word carol and today’s word is tidings. Tidings is another word for news and dates to around 1200. The word appears in the song We Wish You A Merry Christmas: We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year Good tidings we bring to you and your kin We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year When used in relation to Christmas, the term good tidings refers to the good news about the birth of Christ. The word comes from the Old English word ‘tidan’ meanin...
Merry Christmas to all our course subscribers and blog readers! Whatever you are doing, we hope you are having a lovely day. Here is a list of the Christmassy Words for Wednesday we’ve shared over the years: December 'Decem' is Latin for 'ten', so why is it the twelfth month of the year that’s called December? Advent Is advent a period of anticipation or a period of reflection? Pudding Christmas puddings may be delicious, but the origins of this word are less appealing... Reindeer How long have these creatures been a part of Christmas mythology? Trim Trim is a Janus word, which me...
In the Western world, the most widely used calendar is the Gregorian calendar, but some of the names of the months come from the calendars used by the ancient Romans. The calendar of Romulus had ten months, beginning with the spring equinox in March and ending in December. Although December is no longer the tenth month, it is still named for its position in the ten-month calendar - 'decem-' is Latin for 'ten'. September October, and November are also named for their old positions (seventh, eighth, and ninth), and July and August used to be called 'Quintilis' and 'Sextillia' (fifth and sixth). You can read more about where the months get their names from ...
Hello everyone! Are you ready for 2014? For us at Spellzone it feels like December has whizzed by – here’s a round-up of this month’s posts: I started off December by sharing ten mnemonics for remembering how to spell tricky words. Do you always forget how to spell ‘rhythm’, or ‘laugh’, or ‘separate’? This post’s for you! This month, I found myself looking into the origins of the famous magical spells: Open Sesame, Hocus Pocus, and Abracadabra. If you’re into magic, click here for our article on grottos, caverns, killing curses. And if you enjoy this post, you may also be interested in our previous article on made-up wor...
Can you believe December starts tomorrow? We're going to be sharing Advent Anagrams next month, so if you enjoy a good puzzle, make sure you stay tuned! In the meantime, here's a round-up of this month's posts! I've spent November exploring the influences of Latin on the English language. I finally know what 'ad hoc' means, and have developed a (perhaps unhealthy) habit of telling every new person I meet where 'Thursday' got its name from. You can find the links to my posts below. Latin expressions in English - Part One Latin expressions in English - Part Two Where the months get their names from Where the days of the week get their names fr...
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