Some unique and strange origins of English words
During a spelling bee contest aired in TV, I heard a 10-year old say, ‘May I know the etymology of the word please?’, I became curious as to what that was, which lead me to some very interesting stories.
We live in a very interesting era where every year, new words get added to the dictionary on one side and on the other side some languages and even cultures go extinct.
Etymology — the study of word origins — is a fantastically interesting discipline that yields some incredible facts about where the hugely diverse array of words that make up the English language come from.
Words like banana bread, LOL, sumfin, chillax were added recently in the Oxford dictionary.
Let us have a look at some of the origin stories of certain common words.
1. Origin of the word ‘Quiz’
The story goes that a Dublin theater proprietor in 1791 by the name of Richard Daly made a bet that he could, within forty-eight hours, make a nonsense word known throughout the city, and that the public would supply a meaning for it. After a performance one evening, he gave his staff cards with the word ‘quiz’ written on them, and told them to write the word on walls around the city. The next day the strange word was the talk of the town, and within a short time it had become part of the language.
2. Origin of the word ‘Sandwich’
Sandwiches get their (strange) name from the 4th Earl of Sandwich, an 18th century English politician and nobleman.
The circumstances of Lord Sandwich’s supposed invention of the sandwich is a subject of hot debate among linguists. Some believe he consumed his food between two pieces of bread so he didn’t have to leave his beloved gambling table, and that his fellow gamblers began to ask the servants for “the same as Sandwich” and, later, just “a sandwich”. Others believe he ate food in this fashion only so he could stay at his desk and attend to his political commitments.
How strange is that one of the world famous food items got its name from such a silly thing and the item neither has sand nor was it invented by witches (pardon the pun)
3. Origin of the word ‘Dunce’
Cartoons have a way of imparting things that gets etched into your memory. Moment I heard this word, it reminded me of Jerry wearing a dunce hat and a little mouse teaching him how to stay friends with a cat.
The origins of this word for someone considered incapable of learning (the opposite of a “bright” student) are surprisingly old, dating to the time of one John Duns Scotus, (1266–1308 AD).
Scotus was a Scottish Franciscan philosopher and theologian whose works on metaphysics, theology, grammar and logic were so popular that they earned him the honor of a papal accolade. His followers became known as ‘Duns’.
So how did this word come to be associated with academic ineptitude? Well, the Renaissance came along and poor Duns’ theories and methods were widely discredited by Protestant and Humanist scholars, while Duns’ supporters clung to his ideas; subsequently, the word “Dunsman” or “Dunce” (which arises from the way in which “Duns” was pronounced in Medieval times) was used in a derogatory fashion to describe those who continued to support outdated ideas.
The word gradually became used in a more general sense to refer to someone considered slow-witted. Interestingly, though his name is now used disparagingly, Duns’ teaching is still held in high regard by the Catholic Church, and he was beatified as recently as 1993.
4. Origin of the word ‘Berserk’
Let me be honest, I was introduced to the word by Marshall Mathers (Eminem).
When someone “goes berserk”, they go into a frenzy, run amok, perhaps even destroying things. Picture someone going berserk and it’s not difficult to imagine the ancient Norse warriors to whom the word “berserker” originally referred. The word “berserk” conjured up the fury of these men and the untamed ferocity with which they fought, and it’s thought that the word came from two other Old Norse words, “bjorn”, meaning “bear” and “serkr”, meaning “coat”. An alternative explanation, now widely discredited, says that rather than “bjorn”, the first part of the word comes from “berr” meaning “bare” — that is, not wearing armour. Some have said that the “berserkers” were so uncontrollably ferocious due to being in an almost trance-like state, either by working themselves up into a frenzy before battle, or by ingesting hallucinogenic drugs.
5. Origin of the word ‘Quarantine’
One of the most popular words in 2020, after Corona, COVID-19 and pandemic. Origin of the word is associated with another deadly disease, Plague (not at all surprising).
The word “quarantine” has its origins in the devastating plague, the so-called Black Death, which swept across Europe in the 14th century, wiping out around 30% of Europe’s population. It comes from the Venetian dialect form of the Italian words “quaranta giorni”, or “forty days”, in reference to the fact that, in an effort to halt the spread of the plague, ships were put into isolation on nearby islands for a forty-day period before those on board were allowed ashore.
Originally — attested by a document from 1377 — this period was thirty days and was known as a “trentine”, but this was extended to forty days to allow more time for symptoms to develop. This practice was first implemented by the Venetians controlling the movement of ships into the city of Dubrovnik, which is now part of Croatia but was then under Venetian sovereignty.
We now use the word “quarantine” to refer to the practice of restricting the movements, for a period of time, of people or animals who seem healthy, but who might have been exposed to a harmful disease that could spread to others.
6. Origin of the word ‘Ketchup’
My memories associated with the word are ‘Kissan Ketchup’, that was the first ketchup I ever had at a party.
It’s hard to believe that this British and American staple started life in 17th-century China as a sauce of pickled fish and spices. Known in the Chinese Amoy dialect as kôe-chiap or kê-chiap, its popularity spread to what is now Singapore and Malaysia in the early 18th century, where it was encountered by British explorers. In Indonesian-Malaysian the sauce was called “kecap”, the pronunciation of which, “kay-chap”, explains where we got the word “ketchup”. It wasn’t until the 19th century that tomato ketchup was invented, however; people used to think that tomatoes were poisonous, and the sauce didn’t catch on in America until later that century.
7. Origin of the word ‘Nightmare’
Memories associated with this word are related to ‘Casper the friendly ghost’, there was a ghost horse named ‘Nightmare’. Imagine my surprise when I find out, the origins of the word do have a horse influence.
It sounds as though it refers to a female horse,(or maybe a dark one) but in fact the “mare” part of the word “nightmare” (a terrifying dream) comes from Germanic folklore, in which a “mare” is an evil female spirit or goblin that sits upon a sleeper’s chest, suffocating them and/or giving them bad dreams. The same Germanic word — “marōn” — gives rise to similar words in many Scandinavian and European languages. Interestingly, in Germanic folklore, it was believed that this “mare” did more than just terrorize human sleepers. It was thought that it rode horses in the night, leaving them sweaty and exhausted next day, and it even wreaked havoc with trees, twisting their branches. Now that’s a nightmare I wouldn’t want to have.
