The Writer's Thesaurus
By Dr Oliver Tearle
Let’s begin with a quick quiz question. To make it easier, it’ll be a multiple-choice quiz. Who came up with the notion of the ‘unconscious’: that is, the idea that human beings have an unconscious as distinct from a conscious mind? Was it: Continue reading “The Curious Origin of the Word ‘Unconscious’”
By Dr Oliver Tearle
The words ‘child’ and ‘children’ have had an interesting history. Although we can all easily define ‘child’ now – a young person who had not yet attained adulthood – this definition in itself raises some intriguing questions. Legally, a ‘child’ may be someone under sixteen years of age, or someone under eighteen years of age, depending on the country or context; or some other marker or boundary between ‘childhood’ and ‘adulthood’ may be given. Continue reading “The Curious Origin of the Words ‘Child’ and ‘Children’”
By Dr Oliver Tearle
What are the origins of the word ‘family’, and what does ‘family’ have to do with the word ‘familiar’, or, for that matter, with the Latin famulus? We might assume that the etymology of ‘family’ will be straightforward, denoting a group of related people, but that meaning of the term is actually surprisingly recent. Let’s take a closer look … Continue reading “The Curious Origin of the Word ‘Family’”