κῦδος
kudos
Greek
“Ancient Greek glory became modern English praise — and spawned a fake singular 'kudo.'”
Kudos comes from Greek κῦδος (kydos), meaning glory, fame, or renown. In ancient Greek, it was a singular noun — the glory won through heroic deeds.
British universities adopted 'kudos' in the 1800s as academic slang for praise or credit. It spread to American English in the 20th century.
Because 'kudos' ends in 's,' English speakers assumed it was plural and created 'kudo' as a back-formation. Purists cringe, but 'a kudo' is now common.
The word's journey from Homeric glory to 'a kudo for your presentation' shows how meaning deflates over time. But giving kudos still means giving glory.
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Today
Kudos has democratized glory. You don't need to slay a monster or win a battle — you can get kudos for a good email or a clever tweet.
The back-formation 'kudo' annoys purists but shows English adapting Greek to its own rules. Languages do what they want.
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