Author Topic: The random etymology of the day (Read 238120 times)

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1550 on:** June 29, 2012, 06:58:19 AM »

I'm pretty sure it came from Ricky Martin.

Porter · « **Reply #1551 on:** June 29, 2012, 07:52:37 AM »

The word skosh is entirely unfamiliar to me.

pooka · « **Reply #1552 on:** July 11, 2012, 08:00:01 PM »

Hekka just said the baby fell over and almost screamed. Well, scram.
Folk etymology in the making.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1553 on:** July 11, 2012, 09:29:03 PM »

I wouldn't call that folk etymology.

BlackBlade · « **Reply #1554 on:** July 11, 2012, 10:51:29 PM »

I don't think most folks use words like "etymology".

pooka · « **Reply #1555 on:** July 14, 2012, 12:00:29 AM »

I wasn't sure whether to post this here or in the discussion we are now having about shakespeare, but I thought this tracing of the origin of a made up word was kind of interesting:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/972/in-steve-millers-the-joker-what-is-the-pompatus-of-love

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1556 on:** July 14, 2012, 12:30:47 PM »

That was awesome.

The Genuine · « **Reply #1557 on:** July 19, 2012, 06:13:44 AM »

Dibs (as in "first dibs").

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #1558 on:** August 01, 2012, 04:22:47 AM »

How did the word "calf" come to mean both a baby cow and the part of the leg below the knee?

Jonathon · « **Reply #1559 on:** August 01, 2012, 09:10:01 AM »

They're apparently from two unrelated words that coalesced phonetically. The "young cow" one traces back to the Proto-Germanic word *kalboz, while the "lower leg" one was borrowed into English from the Old Norse kalfi, which is of unknown origin but may have been borrowed from Irish.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1560 on:** August 01, 2012, 10:07:09 PM »

The math in aftermath is not related at all to mathematics, but is an English word meaning "mowing, cutting of grass". It's apparently related to the word mow, though I'm not quite sure how. At any rate, aftermath originally meant "A second crop or new growth of grass (or occas. another plant used as feed) after the first has been mown or harvested", according to the OED. It then came to be used figuratively to refer to the state of affairs after a destructive event.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1561 on:** August 02, 2012, 12:05:26 AM »

Interesting! We still talk about that in hay land, but now we call it "second cutting."

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #1562 on:** August 27, 2012, 08:07:39 AM »

What do piggy-back rides have to do with piggies? I'm pretty sure that piggies don't carry each other around that way.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1563 on:** August 27, 2012, 09:19:08 AM »

It's apparently a folk etymology, though the ultimate source is unclear. The earliest recorded forms are things like pick pack and pick back. The OED says, "Perhaps a combination of pack n.1 and pick v.2 (i.e. ‘a pack pitched (on the back or shoulders)’, as suggested by the α forms), or perhaps of back n.1 and pick v.2 (i.e. ‘pitched on the back or shoulders’, as suggested by the β forms)."

BlackBlade · « **Reply #1564 on:** August 27, 2012, 12:15:51 PM »

Perhaps when one is carrying a pig that is the easiest way to do it?

Jonathon · « **Reply #1565 on:** August 27, 2012, 12:41:12 PM »

I don't think so. I think it's just that forms like pick-a-back very quickly start to sound like piggy-back when said fast enough.

BlackBlade · « **Reply #1566 on:** August 27, 2012, 01:21:20 PM »

Quote from: Jonathon on August 27, 2012, 12:41:12 PM

I don't think so. I think it's just that forms like pick-a-back very quickly start to sound like piggy-back when said fast enough.

Can you think of a better way to carry a pig home?

Jonathon · « **Reply #1567 on:** August 27, 2012, 01:42:28 PM »

Like this? Full-grown pigs are heavy, and I don't think they'd hang on to your back very well.

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #1568 on:** August 27, 2012, 03:06:01 PM »

Quote from: BlackBlade on August 27, 2012, 01:21:20 PM

Quote from: Jonathon on August 27, 2012, 12:41:12 PM
I don't think so. I think it's just that forms like pick-a-back very quickly start to sound like piggy-back when said fast enough.
Can you think of a better way to carry a pig home?

In a poke.

BlackBlade · « **Reply #1569 on:** August 27, 2012, 03:45:55 PM »

Quote from: Jonathon on August 27, 2012, 01:42:28 PM

Like this? Full-grown pigs are heavy, and I don't think they'd hang on to your back very well.

I bet if they were live, and they weren't full grown. Also, I'm talking about one man carrying a pig. Obviously if you have 2+ 'mans' you change tactics or if you are using a tool.

rivka · « **Reply #1570 on:** August 27, 2012, 05:08:07 PM »

Pig legs don't bend the way primate limbs do. I don't believe carrying a pig pick-a-back is remotely plausible.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1571 on:** August 27, 2012, 06:58:53 PM »

I'd still like to see Tailleur give it a shot.

rivka · « **Reply #1572 on:** August 27, 2012, 07:16:13 PM »

Can we grease the pig first?

Jonathon · « **Reply #1573 on:** August 27, 2012, 08:28:07 PM »

Sure! I think it'll make it more entertaining for everyone involved.

rivka · « **Reply #1574 on:** August 27, 2012, 09:12:21 PM »

Well, possibly not for the two active participants.