I was wondering about verger, the guy who holds the verge, which according to dictionary.com is "a rod, wand, or staff, especially one carried as an emblem of authority or of the office of a bishop, dean, or the like."

While I admit to not being much of a sports person, I'm still very happy to know how 'seed' came to be used in sports.

Here's a companion piece on the History of X, at the Smithsonian magazine.

Though the bourgeois do tend to be possessed of generous bellies and budgets, it appears their word is not related. See here and here . I was surprised, as I was led to thinking they might be by the dismissive term for a bourgeois; bougie. Come to find out bougie is not only that, but also a candle ...

Post cards have always cheaper than envelopes, but one-centers may still be old enough to be worth something. You should look them up. Or, just add the difference to make today's cost and you can use them.

Of course, using a different calendar as they do, the Orthodox Easter won't be until May 5 this year. 35 days apart! I gather it's the most they can be.

It may be Easter here in the US of A tomorrow, but it's not Pesach. That's a different lunar calendar, and won't be coming around until April 22-30 this year.

• malaise • Iacere came from the PIE word ye - "to throw", found outside Latin only in Hittite ijami "I make". (Potters "throw" pots on a spinning wheel in making them.) I'm wondering if this is still true. There is a new word out there making the rounds, especially in...

Every other source I found on the internot gives the second meaning, and in the same words in the same order. Everyone copying everyone else? However, a contemporary non-medical use might be thus: I'm glad I already live in the path of totality for the eclipse. The exodic routes from my city will li...

Here's an idea for a niche dictionary: words that don't have clear origins. Words that seem to pop up out of nothing and nowhere, but hang in there and become part of the language.

A rarity, a two-word Good Word. I wonder if, in time, English will squish them together and make one word out of them.

If we do change the 'c' to an 's', and the middle 'i' to an 'a', we can create 'insapient'. It's the 'non' meaning of in-, not the 'in', but I like it. We may be scientifically called homo sapiens , but so often we act insapiently. ( Sapient on the Agora.) It may even actually have been a word once ...

I'm going to have to keep the re-. I keep trying to make this word mean furnish.

Not that it's relevant, but revelant made me think of another word and it got me revved up. Revenant is a real word, even if my spell-check doesn't accept it yet. The Dr.'s treated it twice, here and here.

I can see why the roots of this word could mean 'fat' or 'thick'. It is only in the last few generations that being slim and trim were considered signs of health and wealth. So, not that long ago, to be dapper would have required being well-fed and smooth.