‘Pulling Yourself Up by Your Bootstraps’ Origin A screenshot of a tweet claiming the concept of "bootstrapping" originally had a different meaning.
Origin of ‘Goodbye’ A screenshot of a Tumblr discussion purportedly explained the origin of the word "goodbye."
‘Bone Fire Became Bonfire’ A Halloween meme asserted that the word "bonfire" was an amalgam of "bone fire," and the image had a cool skull on it.
Campground Sign ‘Translated for Teenagers’ A pair of campground signs (one translated for "teenagers") went viral across social media in August 2021.
Peace Sign Origin: Nuclear Disarmament? A viral February 2021 Facebook post explained the ubiquitous "peace sign" had its origin in campaigns for nuclear disarmament.
Did ‘Upper Case’ and ‘Lower Case’ Originally Refer to Where Printers Kept Their Letters? Twitter commentary about technology across generations hinted at little-known etymological origins for the terms.
Praying Emoji or High Five? A long-circulating meme suggests that the “praying” emoji is definitively a “high five,” and a common iteration (seen above) shows a search for the term “highfive” with commentary such as “y’all be high fiving people’s deaths.” The origin of the meme is not clear, but it makes the rounds on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other […]
Is ‘Bar’ an Acronym for ‘Beer and Alcohol Room’? A meme with the claim that the word “bar” is an acronym for “beer and alcohol room” suddenly appeared in late December 2018: The meme was virtually identical in both presentation and format to a similar post claiming the word “hospital” had a similar etymology; this version also utilized the “today years old” theme. It was captioned […]
Does Hospital Stand for ‘House of Sick People Including Treatment and Labour’? On December 17 2018, a Facebook page shared the following meme purporting to reveal the surprising etymology of the word “hospital”: With a nod to the “today years old” meme, it read: How old were you when you realised that HOSPITAL means House Of Sick People Including Treatment and Labour. Fun (but often unreliable) assertions […]
