Grit started out as pure sand. In Old English it was greot — coarse dust, gravel, crushed rock — and it traces back through Old Norse grjot ("rock") and a prehistoric root that basically meant "to grind" or "to rub." For a very long time, that's all the word meant: the rough stuff under your boots, or whatever makes sandpaper scratchy.

The leap from sand to spine happened in America. By 1808, "grit" had become American slang for toughness and nerve, and by 1843 people were praising a hard-nosed man for having "clear grit" — courage you could practically see through, like fine sand. The word rode along through Wild West lore and eventually a novel and film called True Grit. Then in 2007, psychologist Angela Duckworth published a research paper on it, followed by a viral 2013 TED talk and a bestselling book — and "grit" became shorthand for something specific: passion and perseverance toward a long-term goal, not just toughness for five hard minutes.

The next word is about a very specific, cozy kind of comfort — candles, blankets, soup, a good pair of socks — that one small country cared about enough to give it its own word.