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Useless Etymology
Personal blog · uselessetymology.comwritinghistory
Useless Etymology is a personal blog at uselessetymology.com about writing and history. Since 2021, 5 different Hacker News readers have linked it 6 times. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-09-29, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (2) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link this blog for word origins and etymologies, such as the difference between hyperbole and hyperbola and the origin of an English idiom. Comments cite its posts as sources.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 2 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
offbeat word origins for curious minds
What Hacker News says?
They arrive there from two different base words (which share an origin): Hyperbole vs hyperbola. https://uselessetymology.com/2017/11/12/the-etymology-of-hyp... https://www.etymonline.com/word/hyperbola
Comment linking /2017/11/12/the-etymology-of-hyperbole/
on “X-ray scans reveal Buddhist prayers inside tiny Tibetan scrolls”Submitted On the importance of looking up words (2020) as a story · 3 points
HN discussionloving how the central idiom of this piece was coined because its physically impossible. this author missed something along the way, i think. https://uselessetymology.com/2019/11/07/the-origins-of-the-p...
Comment linking /2019/11/07/the-origins-of-the-phrase-pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps/
on “The American dream is on life support in the Bay Area”Submitted The Origin of Be- as a Prefix: Beknowing a Befuddling Feature of English as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Etymology of Trivia: A Place Where Three Roads Meet as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted The etymology of Arctic and Antarctic (2018) as a story · 1 points
HN discussion