My blog is called "The Philipendium", covering topics in the natural sciences, language, geography, and education. In each article I seek to provide original insights that you won't find anywhere else. More than 50 fascinating articles have appeared so far. Below are links to some older stories.
In today's episode of Word Connections, we look at some of our many words for flowers. We examine where these words came from, what these words actually mean, and what words are used in other languages for these same flowers.
We have all heard news reports about the poor health of bees in North America. We hear about bee die-offs and the risk to our agricultural crops. You may have wondered, "What can I do to help save the bees?" A good first step is to realize that there are many kinds of bees.
What do the following words have in common: astronaut, lunatic, month, helium, Monday, and asterisk? The answer: each is derived from a word that means sun, moon, or star. See lots more fascinating tidbits in this week's episode of Word Connections!
When you eat, your body tears all the food molecules into much smaller molecules — and then puts them back together. It’s like purchasing a nice 3-bedroom house, dismantling it into a pile of bricks and lumber, and then building a new house in a different layout and style.
Our word "free" has two principal meanings: "not costing anything" and "unconstrained". If you want to translate the word "free" to Spanish or any other language, then you need to think about which meaning you are trying to communicate. See more details in this edition of Word Connections!
Which is bigger, Israel or New Zealand, and by how much? If you were told the area of both countries in square miles, then your eyes would glaze over. But if you heard that New Zealand is nearly 2 Wisconsins, while Israel is just 1/7 of a Wisconsin, then you would immediately understand.
The word “hard” has been part of the English language for a very long time, and we use the word to mean quite a few different things. Find out about the history of this word and its many connections to other words in this week's issue of Word Connections!
For many of us, we feel it is important to distinguish between "natural" and "artificial", especially when it comes to food products. And yet there is a huge, fuzzy gray area between these two concepts, rather than a sharp dividing line. So what's a person to do?
Our word "window" comes a Scandinavian word that literally means "wind-eye". Our word "cancel" comes from the same origin as an Italian word that means "gate" and a Spanish word that means "jail". For more fascinating word connections, check out this week's episode of The Philipendium.
What do cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collard greens, Brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi have in common? They are varieties of a single species of plant! Just as humans have created an astounding variety of dogs from a wolf ancestor, we have done the same with this group of vegetables.
What do the following words have in common: fortify, debilitated, foible, stark, flaccid, infirmary, and dynamite. Answer: All of these words are derived from terms that mean either "strong" or "weak". Find out more in this week's episode of The Philipendium!
I recently encountered a fascinating question: If greenhouse gases trap heat, then wouldn't that prevent the sun's heat from reaching the Earth? We can answer this question by examining some key concepts about energy and how it moves from one place to another.
Did you know that breakfast used to be called "morganmete" in England? Or that the word "dinner" originally meant the first meal of the day? Or that "frokost" means breakfast in Norway, but it means lunch in Denmark? Find out all sort of interesting details about our words for meals!
If you ask “Is the tomato a fruit?” then the best answer is "Yes, it is a fruit." But if you ask “Is the tomato a fruit or a vegetable?” then the best answer is “It is a vegetable.” How can these two apparently contradictory answers both be correct?
What do the following words have in common: Peter, Craig, Einstein, lithium, calculus, roquefort, lapidary, Pierre, petroleum, and regolith? Answer: All of them are derived from older words that mean rock or stone. Check out the full story in The Philipendium!
When we think of jungle, we picture people hacking their way through a dense, wet tropical forest. We call the lion the king of the jungle, but nature films show lions in dry, sunny grasslands. So what is a jungle really like, and where can we find one?
The words “tongue” and “teeth” have been part of the English language for a very long time. We have other more recent words that are also connected to the tongue and teeth, such as "language", "glossary", and "dandelion". Learn the fascinating story behind these words!
Where did we get the idea that a day is exactly 24 hours long? Does it take exactly 24 hours for the Earth to spin on its axis? No! Is it exactly 24 hours between one dawn and the next? No! So where did our standard "day" of 24 hours actually come from?
English includes a rich set of words that are linked to life and death. For many of these words – such as “vivid”, “mortgage”, and “vitamin” – the connections with life and death are not so obvious. So let's go excavating to see what “life & death” words we can dig up!
For anyone who loves nature, the diversity of life on Earth is breathtaking. And therefore we wonder "How many kinds of living things are there?" To answer this question, we must raise and explore a great number of other fascinating but difficult questions.
