“Anxious” and “eager” describe anticipation, but in different emotional states. If you’ve ever misused them, don’t worry — your favorite authors probably have, too.
If you’ve ever used “anxious” when you really meant “eager,” you aren’t alone. Famed novelist Mark Twain favored “anxious” over “eager” dozens of times in his work, as seen in these lines from The Innocents Abroad: “Everybody was anxious to get ashore and visit these classic localities as quickly as possible,” and “Four more of our passengers were anxious to visit Athens.” In both cases, readers can deduce that Twain is describing excitement or anticipation — recognizable as eagerness — and not worry.
Jane Austen used “anxious” in two contexts in Pride and Prejudice. Here, it means “eager”: “…Elizabeth saw that he was anxious for his sister and herself to get acquainted.” And here, it means “worry”: “Her father was walking about the room, looking grave and anxious.” So were these highly revered authors in error with their word choices? It depends on whom you ask.
Universities and style guides list this duo as one of the most commonly confused false synonyms. The Associated Press Stylebook notes their differences, explaining that “anxious” is for worry or unease, and “eager” is for enthusiastic impatience.
Dictionaries agree: The adjectives have distinct definitions. “Eager” means “wanting to do or have something very much,” while “anxious” is “experiencing worry, unease, or nervousness.” In other words, “eager” is a positive outlook, and “anxious” is a negative one. Someone might say they are “anxious for their upcoming vacation,” but unless they’re afraid of traveling, they probably mean “eager” because they’re excited. A more appropriate use would be feeling “anxious for the upcoming flight.”
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However, “anxious” also can be used in the sense of wanting something, similar to “eager,” as in, “We left early, anxious to avoid the storm” — because it carries negative connotations. This usage might have contributed to writers’ mix-ups, inserting “anxious” for any type of desire, even a positive one.
In another twist, “eager” has an archaic definition that comes from the Old French aigre, meaning “keen,” which comes from the Latin acer, relating to something “sharp” or “pungent.” In Middle English, “eager” could be used to mean “harsh,” “fierce,” “sour,” or “sharp,” as seen in Shakespeare’s Richard II: “The bitter clamour of two eager tongues.” While this usage is outdated, it might have fueled the fire of the “eager”/”anxious” confusion. “Anxious,” on the other hand, has remained the same for centuries, originating from the Latin anxius, from angere, meaning “to choke” — aptly suggestive of the physical sensation from the tension of anxiety.
So, the next time you’re caught in anticipation, ask yourself how it feels: exciting or nerve-wracking? While choosing the correct word might please grammarians, you’re in good company if you slip up by employing “anxious” to mean “eager with excitement.”
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We all put our pants on one leg at a time, and even though this is a single item of clothing, we refer to them in the plural. “Pair of pants” comes from an uncommon linguistic quirk.
For as common as they are, pants share an unusual linguistic phenomenon with glasses, scissors, and other singular objects we refer to in the plural. Some say the phrase “pair of pants” is derived from how early styles were manufactured, while others point to a grammatical phenomenon known as plurale tantum.
Tracing the former, in ancient times, some leg coverings were composed of two individual segments joined together. This was true in the case of Ötzi the Iceman — a mummy from circa 3300 BCE who was discovered wearing two individual leather leggings knotted into one. While not every pair of leg coverings was made this way, this style continued well into the 19th century, as evidenced by the two-piece pantalets that some girls wore as undergarments.
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Some point to this as the origin of the phrase “pair of pants,” referring to the multiple pant legs that once made up a single unit. “Shirt,” on the other hand, is singular because those garments were usually made from a single piece of fabric. These are just theories — albeit plausible ones — and it’s difficult to definitively track the exact origins.
What we can say for certain is that the word “pants” is what’s known in Latin as plurale tantum, meaning “plural only.” This grammatical term references any noun used only in its plural form (e.g., pants, scissors, glasses). Nouns that fall into this category appear to be made of multiple components — take, for instance, the two legs of your standard pair of pants, or the two sharp prongs that make up a pair of scissors. But despite this visual perception, nouns that can be called plurale tantum are really one piece in practice.
At the end of the day, while we all put our pants on one leg at a time, there remain some unanswerable questions about the origins of a “pair of pants.” It may have to do with how they were once manufactured, or it may be nothing more than a grammatical quirk.
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Right alongside the sunblock and sunnies is the true star of any well-stocked beach bag: the beach read. As a label, “beach read” can apply to multiple genres and formats. We’re not picky about our beach reads; they can be fiction or nonfiction, paperbacks, audiobooks, or e-books. A good beach read only needs to be a book you’d want to take to the beach and spend the day reading and relaxing with. The writing should be compulsively readable, and the story should be compelling enough to keep you coming back after your midafternoon nap.
Whether you’re planning a single day at the shore or need to stock a few selections for a weeklong trip, there are beach reads to suit every mood. Romance and fiction are great for escapism, while mystery and journalistic nonfiction provide something meatier to chew on. For true relaxation, pop in your earbuds and listen to an audiobook — try a memoir narrated by the author.
Check out some of our suggestions for summer beach reads, below.
Any of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books would be excellent on the beach, but this one in particular has a juicy gossip angle. Struggling journalist Monique lands the story of a lifetime when famously secretive star Evelyn Hugo agrees to open up about her life in order for her biography to be written. As Evelyn confides in Monique, it becomes clear that the smoke screen of Hollywood hid more than Hugo’s fans ever realized.
This retelling of Greek myths is all over the #BookTok circuit. Circe was a banished witch whom Odysseus encountered in Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, but in this story, Miller focuses on Circe’s side and how she negotiated living between the Olympian gods and mortals. Like the original Greek myths, this book balances epic showdowns between powerful figures and deeply human stories of love and connection.
The first encounter Phoebe Stone has with the bride at this hotel destination wedding is jarring to the extreme. She’s the only one in the hotel who isn’t a guest of the wedding, but she spends the week striking up a friendship with the bride-to-be, smoothing over disputes, and navigating kooky wedding guests. Phoebe came to Newport, Rhode Island, to escape her own life, and finds a surprising alternative ahead.
A murder mystery needs a great detective, and Vera Wong is a surprisingly fun sleuth. She’s an older, comfortable tea shop owner in San Francisco who loves a good armchair mystery, and when someone actually dies in her store, she uses her skills of deduction and her ability to slip around unnoticed to do what the police can’t.
Gela Nathaniel needs her new multimedia art course to work, or she’ll lose her university position. A motley crew of six students come from all over the map, possessing different skill levels and perspectives, and the titular examiner is meant to judge their coursework at the end of the first year. After sorting through the essays, emails, chat messages, journals, and more (which we get to read as well), the examiner is convinced of foul play against the students.
Though her book Beach Read is what launched her into the literary stratosphere, give Henry’s third novel, Book Lovers, a try. Nora Stephens is the ultimate big sister: She raised her younger sister Libby and has achieved all of her career dreams as a literary agent. When she and Libby go on a trip to a small North Carolina town for the summer, Nora runs into her work rival. Through the process of working together on one of Nora’s client’s books, they find something more than just a summer fling.
Rum heiress Luz Alana kicks off the juicy fun of Herrera’s historical romance series. When she arrives in late-19th-century Paris, she’s intent on saving her family’s business after her father’s death. It’s a time when most people won’t do business with a woman, so she reluctantly accepts help from Earl James Evanston Sinclair. The more Luz focuses on the liquor business, the more Evan falls in love.
India Holton has made a name for herself in the cozy fantasy romance genre, and her Love’s Academic series is the perfect summer adventure. Beth Pickering and Devon Lockley are rival ornithologists (bird scientists) who are both experts in the murderous magical birds of their world. When they start another showdown in the Birder of the Year competition, sparks fly. You can also pick up the second in this series, The Geographer’s Map to Romance.
Bryson’s writing spans topics and genres, and his comfort with diving into new terrain makes his take on Shakespeare seem fresh. As large as Shakespeare looms in the history of theater, we still know very little about his biography. Bryson pieces together what does exist along with coverage of the historical context and how Shakespeare got so famous.
Before the public fallout and the television show covering the drama, Theranos was a simple idea from a Stanford student that captured the attention of Silicon Valley bigwigs. John Carreyrou’s tireless reporting exposed the ultimate sham at the center of Elizabeth Holmes’ company. The story of how so many people fell for the scam, and truly believed she could glean everything from a tiny drop of blood, is a rollercoaster.
Jane Austen reportedly endeavored to write Emma as a character no one would like very much, but the book is still delightful. The full-cast version of the audiobook (narrated by Emma Thompson) enhances Austen’s quick-witted dialogue and the comedic elements in Emma’s family and social circle. With daily promenades, parlor room gossip, and the romance of dancing at a ball, this is one of Jane Austen’s funniest stories, and well worth the full-case audiobook treatment.
Celebrity memoirs read by the author are an excellent option for the beach because the narrator usually has the acting chops to back up the story they wrote.Alan Cumming’s amazing life story and Scottish accent are worth listening to the audiobook format. In 2010, he found out world-shaking things about his grandfather and his father that totally upended how he saw himself.
Contractions make using English more fun, but if you drop them in the wrong place, your words can fall flat. Here’s how to know when to use them and when to lose them.
Imagine if Elton John and Kiki Dee had sung, “Do Not Go Breaking My Heart,” or if Journey had belted out, “Do Not Stop Believin’.” The lyrics don’t have the same charm — they feel stiff without the original contractions. Contractions add style and personality to songs, books, poems, and prose, but there is a time and a place for them. In contrast to the previous examples, imagine if poet Dylan Thomas had used the contraction “don’t” in the title of his most famous work, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” There’s nuance to using contractions, so let’s break down a few instances when you should and shouldn’t use them.
Contractions are shortened versions of common word combinations formed by omitting letters and joining the parts with an apostrophe. “Do not” becomes “don’t,” “cannot” becomes “can’t,” and so on. These shortened versions have been around for centuries, and they aren’t going anywhere. They mirror natural speech patterns. That’s the key: Use them in informal writing to reflect a natural cadence. Contractions are fair game in emails, blogs, dialogue, and even this article. In very formal situations, however, the answer isn’t as clear-cut.
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If you’re following a specific style guide for professional writing — legal, business, or academic — check the guidelines. For instance, in AP (Associated Press) style, which is used in journalism, contractions are acceptable in informal contexts “if they’re listed in the dictionary.” So, if people commonly say and understand it, it’s OK to write it. The Chicago Manual of Style has similar guidance, but in writing that is both formal and technical, contractions are discouraged. However, Chicago style champions contractions in nontechnical writing, especially when using them would make writing sound more natural and pleasant to read.
The key is to hone in on the desired tone to determine if contractions will help or hurt your cause. If you’re aiming for a conversational tone in personal or creative writing, contractions are your best friend. However, if your writing is formal or technical, contractions may hurt your credibility or undermine the clarity of your ideas. Think of contractions as tools — they’re great help for some types of writing, but they can’t fix everything, so you need to know when to put them away.
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You may be long past the days of cramming for exams, but you can still test your knowledge. The SAT format and scoring have changed over the decades, but many of the same vocabulary words reliably show up in the Reading and Writing section, year after year. Whether you’re looking to flex your test-taking muscles or curious about how much you remember from your school days, let’s revisit the vocabulary terms that continue to challenge students today.
Adulation
It’s a close cousin to “adoration,” but more effusive. Save your adulation for the dreamiest movie stars or the cutest puppies.
I couldn't control my adulation when I met my idol, Dolly Parton.
Antipathy
“Antipathy” means “a strong sense of dislike.” It’s a good word to describe a movie you didn’t like, or a person who rubs you the wrong way.
I couldn't hide my antipathy for the meal at the reception.
Assiduous
We hope you’re studying this list assiduously. This adjective describes showing great care and perseverance.
She was assiduous about watering and weeding her garden daily.
Conditional
Nope, it’s not the rinse after your shampoo. It’s an adjective for a situation when something is dependent on another situation or condition. The word “conditional” might also pop up in grammar sections of standardized testing.
Getting your driver's license is conditional on the results of your final report card.
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Didactic
The adjective “didactic” means “educational or instructive.” Importantly, it includes the concept of moralizing.
Although the book was entertaining, its didactic tone made the moral lesson a bit too obvious.
Digression
Don’t get distracted — a digression is a temporary departure from the main subject in speech or writing. If you feel yourself going on a digression, pause and regain your focus.
He interrupted his lecture with a digression on the stormy weather.
Efficacy
“Efficacy” means “effectiveness.” While shorter, this is a more formal, clinical way to address results.
The fever-reducing medicine had great efficacy, and the next day, Brian was back on the playground.
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Exculpate
“Exculpate” means “to exonerate or vindicate.” You’re likely to hear this on your favorite legal drama.
After presenting new evidence to the jury, the accused was exculpated of all crimes.
Impute
You should impute where credit is due — that is, attribute it. But instead of giving credit for a great idea, “impute” is often used for more negative attributions.
He was quick to point a finger and impute his brother for the broken window.
Inchoate
“Inchoate” means “rudimentary,” or describes something in a project’s beginning stages.
The blueprints were inchoate, but they had great promise with more development.
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Nonchalant
Don’t be nervous — try to remain nonchalant. This adjective means “casually unbothered or indifferent.” Maybe something will happen, but maybe it won’t.
I was worried, but my sister was nonchalant about the upcoming test.
Salubrious
“Salubrious” means “health promoting.” It can also describe something wholesome and warm-hearted.
I needed a salubrious weekend of relaxing, hiking and cooking good food.
In a fast-paced world, personalized letters slow things down — but that’s a good thing. Here’s how to write a meaningful thank-you note to make someone smile.
In our digital world of emails, texts, and emojis, a humble thank-you note might seem like a relic from a bygone era — but that’s precisely what makes it so special. Whether it’s for a gift, a simple act of kindness, or something bigger, writing a thank-you note is a small gesture that leaves a big impression. Thank-you notes originated on papyrus in ancient Egyptian and Chinese cultures but have experienced centuries of tradition, remaining essentially the same. They’re a genuine way to show your appreciation. Here’s how to write a thank-you note that perfectly portrays your gratitude.
Why Write a Thank-You Note?
While a thank-you email or text might suffice in our digital age, we implore you to go a step further and continue the time-honored tradition of handwriting your thanks. Creating something by hand shows that you took extra time to do something special. But don’t just take our word for it — let’s turn to the experts. “Now, more than ever, it is time to get personal,” Lisa Richey, founder of The American Academy of Etiquette, said in a Southern Living article. She added, “Sending an email or a text to thank someone for a gift is not personal.” But how exactly do you make a thank-you note personal? That’s where the written word comes in.
Where To Begin: A Salutation and a "Thank You"
If you’re unsure where to start with your feelings of appreciation, most written correspondence can follow a tried-and-true template. There are many ways to fashion a thank-you note, but we like the recommendations of East Carolina University, which offers a template that exudes gratitude in just a few easy-to-follow steps. The basics of a traditional thank-you note include a salutation, a direct message of thanks, details of your appreciation, closing niceties or well-wishes, one last “thank you” to wrap it up, and a sign-off. This foolproof template will ensure a complete and thoughtful note.
The first step is to choose a salutation. You can never go wrong with “Dear [Recipient]” — “dear” is an ancient word whose earliest use meant “esteemed” or “valued,” so it’s only appropriate that we still use it to show our appreciation. After the salutation, open your note with a direct “thank you” for the specific action or gift you received, so the reader knows exactly why you’re writing. This might look something like, “Thank you for the lovely birthday flowers,” or “Thank you for helping me prepare for my upcoming interview.” Make it short and sweet, because you’ll give more details in the following step.
Add the Details
Next, provide a few more details to connect with the reader. (Stopping with a one-sentence “thank you” might seem impersonal.) You can tell them why you loved the gift, what you used it for, how it helped you, or what it reminded you of. For instance, “The bouquet you sent me was extra special because it included peonies, which were my grandma’s favorite flowers.”
Similarly, suppose you’re thanking them for an act of kindness. In that case, you might elaborate on how their action resulted in a positive outcome for you: “You went above and beyond your house-sitting duties by watering my plants, and not one withered away while I was on vacation!” It doesn’t hurt to acknowledge how kind their action was. For example, “This was so generous of you,” or “I know you’re very busy, and it meant so much that you took the time to help me.”
Wrap It Up With Well-Wishes
After you’ve properly thanked them and given a few charming details about why you loved the gift or appreciated their help, it’s time to wrap it up. But before you go, include some niceties to show you care. Address their loved ones if you know them — “Please send my love to Uncle Albert and Margot” — and wish them a lovely summer or a happy holiday season. If you know of something big going on in their lives, you could address it: “We were so excited to hear about Margot’s engagement! Congratulations to all.” If you’re having trouble thinking of something to write, imagine seeing this person on the street. What is the last thing you’d say to them before departing?
Say Goodbye
Now it’s time to close. You might offer a final “thank you,” but keep it brief. A simple “Thanks again!” does the trick. Finally, choose your sign-off, or valediction, a formal way of saying farewell. You have more flexibility here than with your greeting. The sign-off should be appropriate for your relationship with the reader.
“Love” is perfectly fine for close friends and family, but for colleagues and acquaintances, “Sincerely” works best. Other timeless options include “Yours Truly” or “Sincerely Yours,” which are abbreviations of the historical sign-offs, “Sincerely Your Servant” and “Your Servant Truly.” President George Washington, ever formal, often signed off as “Most Humble and Obedient Servant.” Of course, we’re not George Washington, and that level of humility would raise a few eyebrows today. In most cases, “Best Wishes” or “Take Care” strike the right balance of gratitude and friendliness. For a more fun and casual tone, you might sign off with a cheeky “Cheers!”
A good thank-you note isn’t a Shakespearean feat. It can be written in as few as five to seven sentences, each playing a key role in addressing, explaining, and portraying your appreciation. So grab a pen and your stationery, and remember — a few heartfelt lines can leave a lasting impression.
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What’s the Difference Between ‘Hanged’ and ‘Hung’?
The picture was hung on the wall. The outlaw was hanged at dawn. When it comes to “hang” vs. “hung,” it’s easy to remember the difference once you know the explanation.
English is full of tricky choices: Is it “peak” or “peek”? (“Peek” is a quick look and “peak” is the top of a mountain.) Should you use “compliment” or “complement” when giving someone praise? (Compliment.) When it comes to “hanged” vs. “hung,” though, there’s only one very specific usage for the former. Both are acceptable past-tense versions of the verb “to hang,” but they are not interchangeable. The word “hanged” is grammatically correct in only one context: when referring to an execution by hanging. For example, “In the Old West, outlaws were hanged at high noon.”
In all other contexts, “hung” is the correct choice. Think of this line in the classic tale “The Night Before Christmas”: “The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.”
So, where did the difference in usage come from? The word “hang” comes from the Old English hangian, meaning “to be suspended,” but also the word hon, meaning “to suspend something.” One of those verbs was active (hon), while the other was passive (hangian). Today, both “hung” and “hanged” can function in the active and passive voice, but the two Old English root words led to “hang” developing two past participles: “hung” and “hanged.”
By the 16th century, “hanged” became the standard legal term for executions, giving it a singular function, while “hung” was used in all other contexts. Legal language is slow to change, so the word “hanged” endured to maintain clarity in judicial and historical writing.
Another thing to keep in mind is the phrase “hung up.” It evolved from the physical act of hanging an object — such as a coat or phone receiver — to gradually take on metaphorical meanings. Today, it can describe emotional fixation (“He’s still hung up on his ex”) or hesitation (“She got hung up on a tricky question”). But the phrase “hanged up” is never correct.
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Today, the dictionary can be updated with just a few keystrokes online, but even when it was a more arduous process to edit and publish new printed editions, the English language was in a constant state of flux. Many of the most commonly used words today carried entirely different meanings centuries ago. The technical term for this linguistic transformation is “semantic change.” In some cases, it has resulted in shifts so dramatic that the original meaning of a word is entirely different — and sometimes even the opposite — of its current usage. Here, we examine six words that used to mean something completely different, from gender-specific nouns to the changing meanings of “naughty” and “nice.”
Luxury
Many people today would like to live a life of luxury, but back in the 1300s, if you told someone you were seeking luxury, you might raise an eyebrow or two. Originally, the English word “luxury” meant “sexual intercourse,” and by the end of the century, “lasciviousness,” “debauchery,” and “lust.” This all came from the Latin luxuria, used to express ideas of desire, excess and deviation from a standard. Shakespeare used the word — in its lustful sense — in the 1600 play Much Ado About Nothing, when Claudio accuses Hero of being unchaste: “She knows the heat of a luxurious bed. / Her blush is guiltiness, not modesty.” At some point during the 17th century, the word began to lose its provocative connotation and took on its current usage, referring to great comfort, extravagant living, and the use of wealth for nonessential pleasures.
Girl
Originally, “girl” wasn’t gender-specific. In the 14th century, “girl” or “gyrle” referred to a child or young person, regardless of their gender. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (written in Middle English between 1387 and 1400), when the author refers to the “younge girles of the diocese” in the prologue, he is talking about children in general. “Girl” became specific to females sometime around the early 1500s, and referred to young women or female children by the 1650s.
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Bully
If you’ve ever thought that “bully” was too soft a word for a playground or workplace oppressor, you might be on to something. The origins of “bully” are found in the 16th century, when it was a term of endearment similar to “sweetheart” or “darling” (possibly taken from the Dutch boel, meaning “lover”). Shakespeare was particularly fond of the word, using it as a term of affection in several of his plays, including Henry V (“I kiss his dirty shoe, and from heartstring I love the lovely bully”), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (“O, sweet bully Bottom!”), and The Merry Wives of Windsor (“God bless thee, bully doctor!”).
In the 17th century, “bully” evolved, with its meaning declining from “fine fellow” to “blusterer” and then to the entirely negative “harasser of the weak.” This latter meaning is the closest to our current usage of “bully” as someone who intimidates or harms others, especially those they perceive as vulnerable.
Clue
The word “clue” comes from Greek mythology. In the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, Ariadne gives Theseus a ball of thread, known as a “clew,” so that he can use it to find his way out of her father’s labyrinth. The clew of Greek mythology then came to be used as a word for anything that guides or directs. The spelling “clue” emerged sometime in the mid-15th century, and held on to both of its meanings. In 1869, for example, Hugh Miller refers to “a small clue of yarn” in Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland, while Charlotte Brontë, in the 1849 novel Shirley, uses the word in the sense familiar to us today: “You may just inform him that I have got a clue to the identity of one, at least, of the men who broke my frames.”
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Naughty
“Naughty” derives from “naught,” meaning “nothing,” which leads us to its original usage. In the 14th century, a naughty person was someone who had nothing, being poor or needy. The meaning then evolved — unfortunately, due to its connection with the poor — into something more in line with “morally bad” or “wicked.” From the 1600s onward, the word began to settle into its current, less severe usage of “mischievous” or “badly behaved,” often in reference to children. In the mid-1800s, “naughty” developed a secondary meaning of “sexually promiscuous” — a meaning it still holds today, although it’s normally used in a toned-down, playful manner.
Today, “nice” is a perfectly amiable, if somewhat bland, way to state that something or someone is pleasant or agreeable. But the original meaning of the word is very different. It comes from the Latin word nescius, meaning “ignorant.” From there, “nice” went on an epic journey of linguistic evolution. It meant “foolish” or “simple” in the late 13th century, “dainty” or “delicate” around the 1400s, “precise” or “careful” in the 1500s, and then took on its more complimentary significance as “agreeable” or “delightful” in the mid-1700s, before it became “kind” or “thoughtful” by 1830. In another twist, Shakespeare used it to mean “wanton” or “lascivious,”— he refers to dissolute women as “nice wenches” in Love’s Labour’s Lost — although that usage didn’t become widespread. Today, “nice” is a standard, uncontroversial word, only ever frowned upon due to its overuse rather than its meaning.
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When you were young, you were likely taught about the importance of eating three square meals a day. But you probably never learned why it’s called a “square meal.” This phrase has little to do with the shape of the food or the platter on which it’s served; rather, it relates to the meaning of “square” when it’s an adjective, not a noun. It describes something as being “equal” or “balanced.”
First, we’d be remiss if we didn’t dispel a common myth. An oft-perpetuated theory is that “square meal” comes from the square wooden platters food was served on in the Royal Navy. But according to linguist Gary Martin, there’s no direct evidence to support this tenuous idea, and it’s likely just a folktale.
The concept of a “square meal” has to do with the word “square” itself, which can be defined as “fair or properly arranged.” This means that square meals are balanced to provide nourishing and adequate sustenance, rather than haphazardly thrown together (i.e., eating just a protein bar for lunch because you don’t have enough time). Think of a square meal as having protein, veggies, fruits, carbs, and other elements that make it evenly balanced in the eyes of any nutritionist.
However, what makes up a square meal today doesn’t match what it meant at the time of the phrase’s origination. The concept of a square meal dates to the early 19th century, and it was often used with regard to miners, troops, and mountaineers, who didn’t always have ready access to fresh foods or cooking equipment. An 1863 book about agriculture and mining in California defines a square meal as “a good meal at a table, as distinguished from such meals as men make when they are short of provisions, a condition not uncommon among men who make adventurous trips into the mountains.” Mountaineers often had to make do with what little they had on hand during their trek, so sitting down for a good square meal at an actual table was a treat.
All that is to say that enjoying a square meal or three each day should leave you feeling satisfied, especially compared to eating a less-balanced meal that leaves you feeling sluggish or still hungry.
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The English saying is likely a nod to the ancient Celtic handfasting ceremony, but the symbolism of tying the knot is remarkably universal across cultures.
Every summer I spend at least a few weekends celebrating the marriages of close friends and family members. While my kids’ favorite part is always the cake cutting, I was struck by a wedding I went to last summer that included a ceremony of tying the bride’s and groom’s hands together with a cord. “Tying the knot” is a common metaphor for getting married, but the saying has very literal roots. The idea of tying a knot as a symbol of unity appears in traditions and languages all over the world, and it remains a popular element of modern marriage ceremonies.
One of the earliest appearances of the written phrase appears in a 13th-century Middle English poem: “Swa ye cnotte is icnut bituhhen unc tweienk,” roughly translated to, “As we are fastened and tied together, so the knot is knitted between us two.” But the concept of tying a knot as a symbol of unity is older — and more universal — than this phrasing.
The Celtic tradition of handfasting is a ceremony in which a couple’s hands are tied together with a cord or ribbon to symbolize the joining of two lives. The ritual is centuries old, perhaps dating as far back as 1200 BCE. While this connects to the modern English saying, the concept of “tying the knot” has been a significant part of weddings in many cultures and languages.
Around 1300 to 1500 CE, Aztec wedding ceremonies included binding together the clothing of the bride and groom. In ancient Rome, the “knot of Hercules” was tied to secure a bride’s wedding gown, and only the groom could break through it.
Modern Hindu weddings still include the centuries-old tradition of Granthi Bandhanam, Sanskrit for “tying of the sacred knot.” During the ritual, the bride’s and groom’s garments are tied together with three symbolic knots representing belief (manasa), speech (vaache), and action (karmena). And in the Greek Orthodox wedding tradition, the stefana— crowns connected by a ribbon — represent the unity of the couple’s minds.
In each of these cultures, marriage is interpreted as a binding force — both physical and spiritual — and the knots reflect that. Whether literal or figurative, “tying the knot” is a time-honored way of saying, “We’re in this together.”
Featured image credit: Wirestock/ iStock
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