The word “ornery” was originally a dialectal contraction of the word “ordinary.” Originally, “ornery” simply meant ordinary, or commonplace, but eventually evolved into meaning naughty or cantankerous.
Old people love that word.
And they love calling kids “ornery.”
Old person: “Hey, little kid. Santa won’t come this year, because you’ve been too ordinary!”
Classic old person.
æ was a single letter in the Old English alphabet, and was known as the “ashtree.” Nowadays, it’s commonly referred to as the “ash.”
Because it’s definitely commonly referred to…..
The cable news channel MSNBC gets its name from a combination of its two owners, Microsoft and NBC.
It’s motto, “Lean Forward,” makes it sound like a channel that should be locked by parental controls.
Why skivvies is slang for underwear is a little unclear, however, it was originally considered nautical slang. An earlier skivvy/skivey was also used in London as a slang word for a “female domestic servant.”
In Iran, “female domestic servant” is slang for “wife.”
Starboard comes from the Old English steorbord, which literally means the side on which the boat is steered.
Sometimes etymology is what it is. Kinda lame. And self-evident.
Etymologically “hamstring” comes from “ham” (the fat behind the knee) and “string” (a tendon). It’s all highly medical, science jargon. I can barely understand it.
Dreadlocks get their name because supposedly people with the hairstyle feel “dread.” But not in a bad way apparently; Rastafarian “dread” has a positive sense as in a “fear of the Lord.”
Which doesn’t sound very positive.
In Inuit language, “igloo” or iglu means “house.” The term isn’t restricted to snow houses.
Because they have a million words for snow, but only one word for house apparently.
Also, I have a lot of trouble when deciding whether to use italics or quotation marks. You’d think I’d have that down by now.
“Rag-tag” used to be part of the longer expression “ragtag and bobtail,” meaning “lower class.”
Upon learning that “bobtail” was now involved, I became more confused. So I stopped.
The word “rookie” likely derives from “recruit.”
A Wookiee, like Chewbacca, likely derives from “wecruit.”
“Arctic” comes from the Greek arktos (“bear”), due to the northern status of the the Big Dipper constellation (aka the Big Bear).
I wish science was still based on animism and astrology! I could be such a good scientist.
SCUBA, as in scuba diving, is actually an acronym for Self-contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.
I love going self-contained underwater breathing apparatus diving so I can look at all the fish.
