sahib
I recently read a submitted story in which someone who seemed to be from Africa used the word "sahib." "That's not right," I said to myself; "there's another word like...
Archive for Etymology
can of corn
In a submission, I encountered the phrase "can of corn" as a baseball term; hadn't heard it before, so went and looked it up. Apparently it refers to a baseball...
grog
Sarah told me she was groggy this afternoon, and I asked "From too much grog?" and the ensuing discussion led me to realize I didn't know where the word "grog"...
filibuster, freebooter, buccaneer, etc
This is the best etymology I've seen in months. Wikipedia on "filibuster": The term comes from the early 17th century, where buccaneers were known in England as filibusters. This term...
agita
I recently encountered the word "agida," though I'm no longer sure where. Turns out MW11 spells it "agita," and defines it as a feeling of anxiety. One might assume that...
pump and bomb
Kam tells me that in Spanish, firefighters are "los bomberos"; turns out that "bomba" means both "bomb" and "pump." The similarity of the two words made me wonder if they...
cushy
I'm always a little surprised to find that a common English word that I don't associate with Asia derives directly from an East Asian or South Asian root. I've known...
canvas
It turns out that the word "canvas" derives ultimately from the Latin word "cannabis"; which, of course, means "hemp." Not only that, but apparently the word "hemp" itself may be...
presbycusis
"Presbycusis" is the condition of hearing less well as you get older. And yes, the "presby" part is as in "Presbyterian." In Greek, "presbyteros" apparently means (or meant) "priest" or...
LSD
I always vaguely wondered how "lysergic acid diethylamide" got abbreviated as "LSD." I think I figured (or had been told) that the S came from "lySergic," but that didn't make...