Wordology, Orchid

Take a look at certain orchids’ roots, and you will probably notice that they look like testicles. If not, you have set yourself apart from multiple generations of language-makers that simply could not help but name the whole plant family after this observation.

The contemporary word for the flower, introduced in 1845, comes from the Greek orchis, which literally translates as testicle. Speakers of Middle English in the 1300s came up with a phonologically different word inspired by the same exact dirty thought. They called the flower ballockwort from ballocks, or testicles, which itself evolved from beallucas, the Old English word for balls.

Wordology, Orchid

Take a look at certain orchids’ roots, and you will notice that they look like testicles. The word, introduced in 1845 for the flower comes from the Greek orchis, which literally translates as “testicle.” Speakers of Middle English in the 1300s came up with a different word, inspired by the same description. They called the flower ballockwort from ballocks, or testicles, which evolved from beallucas, the Old English word for balls.

Vanilla Truth

Vanilla comes from a special species of orchid. Consuming natural vanilla causes the body to release catecholamines, including adrenalin and for this reason it is considered to be mildly addictive.


When vanilla plants were first exported from Mexico to other tropical climes, they flowered, but wouldn’t produce vanilla pods. It was discovered that a bee native to Mexico was the only creature that could pollinate vanilla flowers.


Attempts to move the bee to other countries failed and it was not until a slave boy discovered a method of artificial pollination that Mexico lost its monopoly on vanilla. As well as being mildly addictive, vanilla has also been found to block bacterial infections. Ice cream with real flecks of vanilla beans (and maybe some bacon bits) is probably doubly addictive.