Dec 20, 2025
Most ViewedHelloo
Hello — spelled variously as “hello,” “hullo” or “hullo” historically — is the basic English greeting used to begin conversations, answer the phone, or attract attention, and its contemporary usage ra...
Oxford English Dictionary
Premier historical dictionary of the English language
Fact-Checks
27 resultsDec 15, 2025
Most ViewedHow did pegging evolve historically and when did the term first appear in popular culture?
The sexual practice now called “pegging” long predates the modern word: archaeological and literary evidence, plus historical strap-on use, trace similar acts back millennia (e.g., Upper Paleolithic s...
Dec 19, 2025
Most ViewedWhat is the origin of the term 'wigger'?
The word “wigger” is a slang, typically derogatory label that emerged in late 20th‑century English to describe white people who adopt mannerisms, speech, fashions, or musical tastes associated with Bl...
Dec 6, 2025
where do most or all of english words come from? does it have anything to do with names or fallen angels?
English is a West Germanic language that grew from Anglo-Saxon dialects brought to Britain in the 5th–7th centuries AD and later borrowed massively from Norse, Norman French and Latin — so most Englis...
Dec 10, 2025
What are the earliest documented uses of the slur now spelled nigger in English literature and records?
The word now spelled “nigger” entered English as a descriptive term in the late 16th century; the earliest published attestation commonly cited is 1574 in a phrase about “the Nigers of Aethiop” . Scho...
Jan 27, 2026
When did the verb discombobulate first appear in English usage?
The verb -origin">discombobulate first appears in in the early 19th century, with major dictionary authorities placing its earliest attestations in the 1820s–1830s; the Oxford English Dictionary dates...
Jan 11, 2026
How did the n-word originate and what were its earliest documented uses in the 17th and 18th centuries?
The n-word derives from Latin niger, meaning “black,” passed through Romance languages into English as a descriptor for dark-skinned people and appears in print as early as 1574; by the 17th and 18th ...
Jan 14, 2026
how many words did shakespeare create
William Shakespeare is widely credited with introducing hundreds to thousands of English words into print, but the exact count depends on what "created" means: authoritative sources and projects cite ...
Jan 11, 2026
What is the documented history of ‘hello’ in printed English before and after 1826?
The word "hello" in its modern spelling is first documented in printed English in 1826, but it arrived as part of a family of attention-calling forms (holla, hollo, hallo, hullo) with roots much earli...
Jan 14, 2026
how many words did we get from shakespeare himself
The best-supported answers say Shakespeare is credited with introducing somewhere between roughly 1,700 and nearly 3,000 words to English, but that figure is a shorthand for “earliest recorded use in ...
Jan 26, 2026
Khud
“Khud” is a short word with at least two distinct senses in modern reference works: in English-language dictionaries it appears as a noun meaning a ravine or steep cleft—particularly in —while in Sout...
Dec 6, 2025
which word was invented first, 'mortgage' or 'morgue'?
The evidence in available sources shows "mortgage" entered English via Old/Middle French and medieval Latin in the late 14th century; "morgue" is a much later borrowing from French, coming into Englis...
Dec 5, 2025
The Beldam
"The Beldam" appears in three main registers in available sources: as a 2024/2025 indie horror film starring Patricia Heaton released on VOD in late 2025 (Quiver/Signature release dates cited) ; as an...
Feb 6, 2026
Is octoroon offensive?
The word "" is widely considered an outdated and offensive racial classification meaning a person of one‑eighth Black ancestry, a label recorded in and dictionaries . Contemporary dictionaries and usa...
Feb 5, 2026
What are the origins and history of the term golden shower?
The phrase "" today most commonly names a sexual practice—urinating on another person for erotic pleasure—yet its linguistic life is older and more varied, with non-sexual botanical and descriptive se...
Feb 5, 2026
Where does the term coon come from
The word “” began as a shortening of raccoon, itself borrowed into from an / word, but over the 19th century it became a racial slur for Black people through entanglement with minstrel performance, mi...
Feb 4, 2026
Who actually is bubba?
is primarily a colloquial nickname and term of endearment—often used for brothers, boys, or affectionate male family members—with roots that scholars trace to variants of “brother,” “bud,” or bube mea...
Jan 30, 2026
purpose?
Purpose commonly denotes the reason something exists or is done and, in ">psychological literature, refers to an enduring intention to pursue long‑term, meaningful goals that connect the self to somet...
Jan 30, 2026
I need carded card
“Carded” is a short, versatile English adjective and past participle with at least three widely attested meanings: a (fibers prepared by carding) , the familiar everyday phrase meaning “” (as when buy...
Jan 14, 2026
UK reloaded
“Reloaded” is a common English word with literal meanings relating to loading again and computing/refresh senses that are well documented in UK reference works (Cambridge, Longman, OED) . The string “...