TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Keister
Originally meaning a woven container, the word keister has roots all over the place. The devil's tool box? Sure. A safe? That too. So, how did it become associated with the buttocks? Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel get to the bottom of...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: What's the Definition of Comedy? Banana.
What makes us giggle and guffaw? The inability to define comedy is its very appeal; it is defined by its defiance of definition. Addison Anderson riffs on the philosophy of Henri Bergson and Aristotle to elucidate how a definition draws...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Sarcophagus
Dating back to the early Roman Empire, the word sarcophagus originally referred to the limestone a coffin was made of, rather than the coffin itself. From flesh-eating stone to a stone coffin, Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel unbury the...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: A Brief History of Plural Word S
All it takes is a simple S to make most English words plural. But it hasn't always worked that way (and there are, of course, exceptions). John McWhorter looks back to the good old days when English was newly split from German -- and...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Fizzle
From a stinky and crude inception, the word fizzle's history is nothing to poo poo at. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel track the road from flatulence to its modern meaning of a failure or weak ending. [1:50]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Exploring Other Dimensions
Imagine a two-dimensional world- you, your friends, everything is 2D. In his 1884 novella, Edwin Abbott invented this world and called it Flatland. Alex Rosenthal and George Zaidan take the premise of Flatland one dimension further,...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: What We Learned From 5 Million Books
Have you played with Google Labs' Ngram Viewer? It's an addicting tool that lets you search for words and ideas in a database of 5 million books from across centuries. Erez Lieberman Aiden and Jean-Baptiste Michel show us how it works,...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Jade
Now known for its beauty and green hue, the stone jade was previously thought to espouse magical properties, such as kidney treatment. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel explain the word's travels from 15th century to Spain to today. [2:07]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Quarantine
Stemming from the days of bubonic plague in Medieval Europe, quarantines were originally used to prevent potentially plague-infested ships from disembarking at a port city. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel explain how the length of the...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Gorgeous
From whirlpools and ravines to superlative beauty, what is the trajectory of the word gorgeous? Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel reveal the surprising variations in meaning. [2:00]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Window
Metaphoric compounds, like the combination of the words wind and eye to represent a window, populated Norse and Old English. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel describe how this love of metaphor created the word window. [1:57]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Venom
How did venom get its poisonous meaning? Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel follow venom from something to desire to explicit reasons for avoiding a snake. [2:02]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Dynamite
With an explosive meaning, the word dynamite's past is as historical as it is etymological. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel describe how Alfred Nobel invented dynamite. [2:14]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mining Literature for Deeper Meanings
Writing a great English paper can be tough because literature doesn't always reveal its deeper meanings immediately. Amy E. Harter offers a few tips on how to read and write more critically and thoughtfully. [4:12]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Inaugurate
From avian omens to the beginning of a new policy or the reign of a new politician, Jessica Oreck follows the flight path of the word inaugurate. [2:08]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Earwig
An earwig is neither an ear nor a wig; it is an insect. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel explain how folklore gave this bug its name, combining entomology with etymology. [2:16]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Tuxedo
How did tuxedo's roots extend from Native American history to black tie evening wear? Jessica Oreck reveals what the Delaware Indians and formal fashion have in common. [2:04]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Miniature
Miniature's root may be Latin, but its meaning is rooted in books, where red pigment was used to denote chapter breaks. Jessica Oreck explains how we got from there to the meaning of miniature today: something smaller than others of its...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Noise
The words noise, nausea, and naval all stem from the same Latin root. Jessica Oreck divulges how their spellings and meanings diverged from the original naus. [2:02]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Mysteries of Vernacular: Hearse
Today, we recognize the word hearse as a vehicle that carries a coffin to a funeral. Jessica Oreck explains how this word has, at various times, described a wolf, a rake, and a frame, eventually landing at its meaning today. [2:13]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: What Is Verbal Irony?
In the final of a three part series on irony, Christopher Warner gets into the irony you may use most often and most casually: verbal irony. [3:29]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: In on a Secret? That's Dramatic Irony
Christopher Warner identifies the storytelling device of dramatic irony. [2:50]
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Slowing Down Time (In Writing & Film)
Certain moments in our lives seem to last forever. Whether it is a first kiss or a car crash, time can seem to stretch or even stop. Aaron Sitze explains how this sensation is conveyed in cinema and how the same conventions can be used...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Tales of Passion
Author and activist Isabel Allende discusses women, creativity, the definition of feminism, and, of course, passion in this Talk. [18:30]