Words & Phrases
Where does the word OK come from, why do we say hello on the phone, what does quarantine have to do with the number 40? The origins of everyday words and phrases, based on dictionaries and linguists' research.
- Words & Phrases
Where Does OK Come From? The 1839 Newspaper Joke Behind the Word
OK first appeared in a Boston newspaper in 1839 as an abbreviation of "oll korrect," a deliberate misspelling of "all correct." Scholar Allen Walker Read traced it and dismantled the rival theories.
November 4, 2026 - Words & Phrases
Where Does the @ Symbol Come From, and Why Is It Called "At"?
The @ was a merchants' shorthand long before email. In English it meant "at the rate of"; in Spanish and Portuguese it marked the arroba, an old Arabic-derived unit of weight. Ray Tomlinson put it in email in 1971.
November 4, 2026 - Words & Phrases
Does the Word Salary Come From Salt? Yes, but Roman Soldiers Weren't Paid in It
Salary comes from the Latin salarium, derived from sal, salt. But the story that Roman soldiers were paid in salt appears in no ancient text: it grew out of 18th- and 19th-century dictionaries.
November 4, 2026 - Words & Phrases
Why Do We Say "Bless You" When Someone Sneezes? The Custom Is Older Than the Famous Story
Answering a sneeze is a custom at least 2,000 years old, recorded by Greeks and Romans. Its exact origin is unknown, and the story about Pope Gregory I and the plague of 590 has no documentary support.
November 4, 2026 - Words & Phrases
Where Does the Word Quarantine Come From? The 40 Days Behind the Name
Quarantine comes from the Italian quarantena, from quaranta, forty. The name recalls the 40-day wait imposed on ships and travelers during the plague epidemics of the late Middle Ages.
November 4, 2026 - Words & Phrases
Where Does the Word Robot Come From? A Czech Play and a Painter's Suggestion
Robot comes from the Czech robota, forced labor with strong overtones of serfdom. It debuted in Karel Čapek's play R.U.R., published in 1920, but the word was suggested by his brother Josef, a painter.
November 4, 2026 - Words & Phrases
Where Does the Word Algorithm Come From? A Baghdad Mathematician's Name
Algorithm comes from al-Khwarizmi, a mathematician who worked in Baghdad in the ninth century. The Latin form of his name, Algoritmi, became the word. One of his books also gave us algebra.
November 4, 2026 - Words & Phrases
Why Do We Say Hello When We Answer the Phone? Edison's Hello Beat Bell's Ahoy
We answer the phone with hello because Thomas Edison recommended it in 1877 as a way to get attention on the line. Alexander Graham Bell preferred ahoy, but hello won and spread to other languages.
November 4, 2026
