Monthly Archives: April 2014

Extra Lex: Retronyms for when you’re talking old school

Posted on April 30, 2014 by lexiekahn

If Don Draper of “Mad Men” asked his secretary to place the GM file on his desktop near the dashboard icon, she might wonder what joker got him a plastic figurine for his car. Those terms have different meaning since … Continue reading →

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Extra Lex: Century-Old Words

Posted on April 18, 2014 by lexiekahn

If you took our 100-Year-Old Words quiz, you may recognize some of these, but it’s hard to believe these words have been around for a century. Imagine Mr Selfridge spouting some of these words and phrases.         … Continue reading →

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Extra Lex: Debunking Myths about Phrase Origins

Posted on April 9, 2014 by lexiekahn

A widely-circulated email called “Little History Lesson” gets the history of phrases like “big wig,” “to cost an arm and a leg” and “mind your own beeswax” all wrong. Here are the true stories from Mental Floss.  

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