Girl - “chatterbox”
Misogyny or observation? Etymologists believe the word “girl” may stem from Latin “garrula” meaning chatterbox from Latin verb “garrire” meaning to talk about nothing. Other theories include Greek “koure” (young maiden) and Old English “girdle” (piece of clothing worn by young women and taken off at marriage).
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Bridal - “bride + ale”
Remember - it’s not a true bridal shower unless there’s beer! That’s not opinion, it’s etymology! From Old English “bryd” (bride) and “ealu” (ale, beer).
Hydrate - “water yourself”
If there was ever a good example of the bastardization of the English language, it can be found in words relating to H2O still being used in common speech. We have Greek hydr (hydrate), Latin Aqua (aquatic, aquamarine), Germanic waeter (water) and Russian vodka (little water).
Quicksand - “living sand”
A perplexing question: “Why does quicksand start with ‘quick’ when you slowly sink in it?” Etymology gives us the answer: The “quick” portion of the word comes from Old English “quyk” meaning “living”, presumably for the appearance that the sand was actively eating its victims.
Nightmare - “demon who suffocates people while they sleep”
Derives from an Old English legend of a demon (”mare”) that tries to suffocate people while they sleep. The sensation of being awakened quickly and out of breath from bad dreams probably contributed to the shift to its current meaning.
reblog in honor of the running Halloween theme :)
Step-child - “orphan”
A step-mother is not a mom who “steps in” for the biological mother, rather the word derives from Old English steop-, which indicates loss. For example, the word steopcild meant orphan, or a child who has experienced the loss of his/her parents. So, etymologically, a stepfather or stepmother is one who becomes father or mother to an orphan, but the notion of orphanage faded in 20c, to be replaced by our modern sense of non-biological parent.
Pandemonium - “demons everywhere”
Pandæmonium in “Paradise Lost” is the name of the palace built in the middle of Hell, “the high capital of Satan and all his peers,” coined by John Milton. From Greek “pan” (all) + Late Latin “daemonium” (evil spirit). It wasn’t until around 200 years later that it got the meaning of complete chaos.
Learning pitch the “Sound of Music” way is called Solfège, and the individual sounds (Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do) do not come from a doe, a deer, a female deer, but rather from a Latin hymn to John The Baptist. Here it is loosely translated to English to keep the letter pattern the same:
Do let our voices
resonate most purely,
miracles telling,
far greater than many;
so let our tongues be
lavish in your praises,
Saint John the Baptist.
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Algorithm - “man from Khwarizm”
Named for the Arab mathematician Mohammed ibn-Musa al Khwarizmi, whose surname literally translates to “man from Khwarizmi.” He was the first mathematician to present the systematic solution of linear and quadratic equations. "Al-khwarizmi” became “algorismus” in Latin and eventually “algorithm” in late 17th century English by association with Greek “arithmos” (number). We also get “arithmetic” from the same origin.
One of the main tenants of Luther’s Protestant Reformation was the discarding of the belief in transubstantiation (that the communion bread literally becomes the body of Christ). There was a famous magician in protestant King James I’s court who would say “hocus pocus” before his tricks, mocking the words Catholics priests spoke before giving communion - “hoc est corpus meum” (This is my body). This intonation before doing a magic trick carries on today.
humansofnewyork
“I had very thick hair as a child. But I was also very tender-headed, so I hated getting my hair combed. The first time my mother took me to the salon, I screamed bloody murder. So for the rest of my childhood she did my hair herself. And it always looked good. I grew to believe that my hair was my best quality. I could have on my best make-up, and my best outfit, but if my hair wasn’t done right, the whole thing was off. After college my boyfriend discovered the first bald spot on the back of my head. Soon afterwards I was diagnosed with an auto-immune condition. The doctor told me that I could eventually lose all of my hair. I was devastated. I immediately called my mother, and she told me we were going to fight it. We prayed and prayed. We kept finding new oils and new shampoos. But the bald spot only grew bigger. My mother started doing my hair again, just like when I was a kid. And whenever a new spot appeared, she’d invent a new style to hide it. For the longest time no one knew. But it was so much stress. I’d panic if someone was behind me in the elevator. Dating was the worst. It was like: ‘Oh my gosh. How am I going to keep this a secret?’ Some mornings I’d call my mom in a moment of desperation. I’d tell her: ‘I can’t do this anymore. I’m going to shave it off.’ But she’d talk me out of it. She’d tell me: ‘Don’t worry. We’re going to figure this out.’ But we never did. It only got worse and worse. By the age of thirty-one I was in a really dark place. And I decided to go on a fast because I needed some clarity from God. And that’s when I made the decision. The first person I told was my mom. She’d been telling me not to do it for so long, because she was scared too. But I needed her to be OK with it. I needed her to finish this journey with me. Everyone in the hair salon was nervous. The person in the next chair was nervous. Even the hairdresser was nervous. She was like: ‘Do you really want to do this?’ But then she took out the clippers, and began to shave it off. My mother was the first one to break the silence. After the first pass of the clippers, she looked closely at my head. And then she announced to the whole salon: ‘It’s going to look good!’”
