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Etymology
In 1920s American slang ‘wash up’ meant to finish something or somebody
Association football became soccer in the 1880s, at first sometimes written socker
Once upon a time, the art of criticism had the name critick in Englis
In graffiti form it is sometimes rendered 1312, from the place of the letters in the alphabet
Only in 1993 did the Oxford English Dictionary catch up with a newer meaning of vibrant that suggested ‘vitality or the exotic’
Artichoke came into English in the 16th century from words already obscure in their derivation
Mica was an electrical insulator — the original purpose of Formica
We have become distanced strangers fearful of a handshake or a kiss
