Though it sounds colloquial, kudosfinds its roots in the hallowed halls of academic institutions. At the turn of the 19th century, academics transliterated the Greek kydos, meaning “praise or renown.” By the 1920s, kudos had spread beyond the walls of universities and into the columns of newspapers. Don’t be fooled by the s at the end ofkudos; it is, in fact, a singular noun. However, enough English speakers have erroneously interpreted this s as a plural inflection that in the 1940s, the back formation singular kudo arose. Grammar sticklers avoid using kudo as a singular and kudos as a plural, however, these both can be found in popular usage.
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