Most of us have grown up with Scrooge’s Christmas Eve escapades. We know the plot, the catch phrases, the every “bah, humbugs!” like the back of our hands. The names Ebenezer, Jacob Marley and Bob Cratchit are now as deeply familiar to us as Santa, Rudolph, and Frosty. We know it all. Or do we? What is it about those Victorian names that haunt our yuletide imagination? What are they hiding about the characters we re-invite into our homes every year? And what, moreover, do they say about Dickens’ supposedly simple tale that may not be so simple after all?

Rita Mae Brown said: "Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going."

I especially like the etymology for 'sleight', as in 'sleight of hand' (no. 4 on the list). Many of these are great. Do wish Mental Floss would give their source(s) for their info, however.