Delores
E. Topliff
I
love tracking the origins of words because so there are often interesting
stories behind them. Apparently knucklehead refers to someone with a brain the
size of a knuckle. Samuel Johnson, the compiler of England's first dictionary,
claims the word nincompoop comes from the Latin phrase non compos mentis (“not
of right mind”), initially a legal term.
“I'll be a monkey's
uncle,” does not connect to Darwinism as I imagined but expresses
surprise, amazement or disbelief. That phrase first appeared in an Ohio
newspaper February 8th, 1925, with the statement, “If that’s a joke, I’m a
monkey’s uncle.”
In 1807, William Cobbett wrote about using red herrings to lay a false trail
while training hunting dogs—apparently over-ripe fish confused the sensitive
noses of skilled hunting canines.
The
term “caught red handed” originated in Scotland in the 15th century. Based on how it appears in
early references, it describes people caught with blood on their hands from
murder or poaching.
Malaria comes from two
medieval Italian words “mal” meaning “bad” and “aria” meaning “air” – so it
literally means “bad air”. The term was used to describe the unpleasant air coming
from the marshlands surrounding Rome, which was believed to cause the disease.
We now know that it’s the mosquitoes breeding in those conditions that cause
the disease, not the air itself.
The world’s favorite
lunch item is named for England’s 4th Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu. The
story goes that 250 years ago, the 18th-century aristocrat requested that his
valet bring him beef served between two slices of bread. He enjoyed eating this
while playing card games as his hands wouldn’t get greasy and spoil the cards.
Observing him, Montagu’s friends began asking for “the same as Sandwich”, and
so the sandwich was born. Though people did eat bread with foods such as cheese
and meat before this, those meals were known as “bread and cheese” or “bread
and meat”. The sandwich is our ultimate convenience food.
Such
findings make me want to discover more word origin stories. Please send your
favorites.
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