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War of Words

Ancient/War of Words

War of Words – ‘soldier’

In the early 4th century, Emperor Constantine (r. 306-337) introduced a new gold coin of stable value, with 72 such coins per…

War of Words/WWII

War of Words – ‘kamikaze’

Driven by desperation in the waning months of the Second World War – and motivated by a martial code, bushido, that glorified…

War of Words/WWI

War of Words – ‘trench warfare’

Because of the unrelenting ferocity of trench warfare, the term has also come to mean a fierce, grinding contest of a non-military…

War of Words/WWII

War of Words – ‘Flak’

After the war, flak would also come to mean very strong criticism or abuse.…

Ancient/War of Words

War of Words – ‘Spartan’

The Spartans were well-known for their frugality, living simply with a minimum of comforts, and ‘spartan’ acquired the sense of extreme simplicity…

War of Words/WWI

War of Words – ‘Zeppelin’

‘Zeppelin’ appeared in English that same year in Whitaker’s Almanack: ‘The Zeppelin Air-ship… is a cylindrical frame of aluminium in partitions, each…

Modern/War of Words

War of Words – ‘Gunboat Diplomacy’

Ordinarily, a gunboat was a lesser craft, mounting just a few guns. They were particularly useful in shallow waters that larger warships…

Ancient/War of Words/WWI

War of Words – ‘Hun’

‘Hun’ became an unflattering synonym for Germans during World War I, used by Britons to emphasise their enemy’s brutality.…

19th Century/Napoleonic/War of Words

War of Words – ‘Waterloo’

‘Waterloo’ – and especially variations of the phrase ‘to meet one’s Waterloo’ – have come to signify a firm, conclusive end to…

Ancient warfare/War of Words

War of Words – ‘Auxiliary’

The Roman legions needed support. By the 1st century AD, the citizen legionaries of Rome, drawn primarily from Italy, were supplemented by…

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