BeforeWords

06:51 | Jun 16th, 2020

Were the ancient Aztecs onto something with their human to fruit comparisons. Or were they just horny?

07:20 | Aug 11th, 2020

When we describe someone as sinister we think of them as evil, manipulative, and sociopathic; all descriptions of a troubled mental state. However, through most of our recorded history the term was us...Show More

06:28 | Aug 6th, 2020

Attending a wedding beckons us to put on attire that might be described as ‘nice’. But would you be truer to the origin of the word if you showed up to a fast food restaurant in a tuxedo?

08:18 | Aug 3rd, 2020

Was the term 'dunce' and the ensuing corporal punishment—the dunce cap—created for classroom dummies, or does it derive from the name of a great Scottish thinker?

06:35 | Jul 26th, 2020

Sometimes we wake up in the middle of the night, frightened by some dark and scary imagery conjured up by our very own subconscious minds. But with each ‘nightmare’ comes a storied history involving d...Show More

07:04 | Jul 21st, 2020

Signing a mortgage can bring long-term joy to your life, giving you a place to live and raise a family. However, in a twisted sense of irony, you may also be signing a death pledge. 

06:35 | Jul 16th, 2020

Do robots make our lives easier, or do they steal our jobs? Regardless of where we may stand on robots, we have a Czech playwright and a popular science fiction writer to thank for this word. 

06:29 | Jul 14th, 2020

The word 'tragedy' generally doesn't evoke happy thoughts. But its Greek origin is oddly amusing, stemming from music...and goats.