A remarkable fact is that many slang words have a classical origin. For example, the word "mill," a vulgarism for a fight, is traceable to the Greek word "hamilla," which means a combat.

The plant gets its name from the Old English words mistel, meaning dung, and tan, meaning stick. Kissing under “poo on a stick” suddenly doesn’t sound so great after all! The name of Santa ...

Johnson’s etymology is less sure-footed. “Perhaps a Spanish word,” he ventures. The great man was right to be uncertain. Modern scholars have traced tariff’s path along a different route ...