R.G.B.

Wormhole-Wear Wednesdays (Episode 012) April 2025 Lost in Multiversal Translation April 16th is Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day. Ever paused to wonder about the cosmic origins of these dreamy garments? We commonly trace our Earth word pajamas to Persian roots—pai (leg) and jamah (clothing)—referring to a comfortable drawstring pant design that later spread and evolved into the word and forms we know today, thanks to the British Empire (c. 1801). However, Bajoran linguists might raise an…

Spectrum Envy? (Episode 011) March 2025 Lost in Multiversal Translation Merriam-Webster defines the word spectrum as, basically, the color spectrum, a range of light or energy, or another continuum. It says spectrum comes from the Latin specere, “appearance.” The word specter actually comes from the word spectrum…much like the appearance of “magic” often comes from technology. For once, the dictionary’s got the history right! But to fully understand how the word first appeared, we must look…

The Valentine Fantasy (Episode 010) February 2024 Lost in Multiversal Translation Merriam-Webster defines the word valentine as a person chosen as a sweetheart, or a gift given to a sweetheart on Valentine’s Day. The word and the holiday seem to have originated in the Middle Ages. Valentinus (meaning “strong,” “worthy,” or “powerful”) was a popular name between 200-800 AD (much like the name Avery — “elf power” — today). History.com tells us that some men (and at least one woman) by the…