http://www.worldwidewords.org Copyright 1997-2009 Michael Quinion World Wide Words examines the English language from a British viewpoint. It discusses word histories, new words, the background to words in the news and problems of English usage. webmaster-rss@worldwidewords.org (Michael Quinion) rss@worldwidewords.org (Michael Quinion) Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:00:00 GMT en-gb 1440 http://www.worldwidewords.org/turnsofphrase/tp-eba1.htm A recent new form in the prefix <i>e-</i> is <i>e-bandoned</i>, with at least a couple of meanings. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:00:00 GMT http://www.worldwidewords.org/turnsofphrase/tp-eba1.htm http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-nid1.htm The obscure word <i>niddering</i> means to be cowardly. It&rsquo;s actually a printer&rsquo;s error. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:00:00 GMT http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-nid1.htm http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-bul4.htm Might the English simile <i>bull in a china shop</i> have been created as a theatrical spectacle? Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:00:00 GMT http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-bul4.htm