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47 Comments
- NathanielJ, on 11/26/2008, -1/+21http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/*****.asp
- chaiwalla, on 11/27/2008, -0/+11The translation of vanilla as "little sheath" is polite. The original is something like "Vahinailla" which literally translates as "little vagina," which means the same thing as little sheath. I am a teacher and sometimes food writer, and I slipped this into a column on vanilla one time. Unfortunately, my students found it, and pestered me for quite a while.
Here is the link http://www.straight.com/article/pure-vanilla-extra ... - rootsm3, on 11/27/2008, -1/+9"Yogurt, a mispronunciation of a Turkish word."
This article sucked. It sucked. - doublefelix, on 11/27/2008, -0/+6What could be more manly than to say "I've eaten the testicles of ancient Aztecs". That is some Indiana Jones ***** right there. Now 'Namby-pamby' however....
- tunafizzle, on 11/27/2008, -0/+6It's not often that a single comment is better than the actual story being dugg.
- inactive, on 11/27/2008, -0/+5The entry on Tattoo is wrong. While it may be homophonic to "a Dutch expression for 'Close off the tap,'" the two are etymologically dissimilar. The present day word "tattoo" derives from the Maori "tatau," which is onomatopoeia for the sound that was made when they struck the sharpened ivory or stick with a mallet to create the mark in the skin.
- oboshoe, on 11/27/2008, -0/+5"Sabotage. Supposed to derive from the tendency of striking workers to damage machinery by throwing shoes into it - sabot being an old French word for a wooden shoe."
Dig if you are a star trek fan and already knew that. (back when Kim Catrell was hot) - IceQwin, on 11/26/2008, -1/+5That totally changes my view of the avocado... X_X
- specialknfnd, on 11/26/2008, -4/+8Where were the English words?
- captainXscalora, on 11/26/2008, -0/+4I always knew avocados resembled large green testicles.
- GrooTheWanderer, on 11/27/2008, -0/+4Slight correction - "Coleslaw" comes from "kool sla" in Dutch.
- tunafizzle, on 11/27/2008, -1/+5Pretty misleading title,
"A-Z of English Words with Suprising Orgins"
Corrected Version:
"A-Z of Words with Origins"
L - Lilac, which comes from the Persian nilak, meaning ''of a bluish shade".
U - Umbrella, appeared in English as early as 1609... 18th century the device was adopted by .. Jonas Hanway as a protection against the London rain.
M - Mandarin. The name of the fruit feels as though it ought to be Chinese, but may well have come from Swedish.
K - Kangaroo, from gangurru, the large black male roo in the Guugu Yimidhirr language.
N - Namby-pamby. Nickname of the 18th-century poet Ambrose Phillips, coined by the satirist Henry Careybecause of his sentimental verses
So lilac comes from a word that means blue(AMAZING!!!). Umbrella's explanation basically makes no sense. Mandarin may have come from Sweden. Take notice of the phrase "may well have". Also, who cares? Kangaroo came from an Aborigine language? How ummmm... unsurprising?
And what the ***** is Namby-pamby?
Buried. - TheSum, on 11/27/2008, -0/+3namby pamby
excessively sentimental, weak, lacking moral or emotional strength - xoot, on 11/27/2008, -0/+3"Juggernaut, Sanskrit for a giant carriage used to transport an image of the god Krishna."
Not entirely accurate - Jagannath (pronounced 'jug a nut') is the Hindu God Krishna (Jagat = world, natha = master). In Puri, in India, the idol of Jagannath is pulled around on a huge cart (ratha) and it's the huge cart we think of as the juggernaut but it's actually the God that we get the name from. - DephexTwin, on 11/27/2008, -0/+3Yup, it's what you think. If you've ever enjoyed eating avocado, it means you're gay.
- jonathono2000, on 11/27/2008, -0/+3Am I just really smart or did everyone else already know 90% of those?
Here is a hint: I'm not that smart. - Lunarbunny, on 11/27/2008, -0/+3I thought Kangaroo was from the phrase "I don't understand" or such, but that may just be urban legend.
- cayqel, on 11/27/2008, -0/+2Am I the only one who notice 2 X-men characters and 1 batman villain?
- bdbr, on 11/27/2008, -0/+2Read a few posts up...there's a guy who didn't even know what one of those words MEAN, much less its origin.
- abcdefghij, on 11/27/2008, -0/+2the term WIFE (ˈwīf, noun) which in modern English has come to mean: a female partner in a marriage
comes from the intended tasks of said noun in accordance to the contract when the subject's creator took one of our ribs. Description of the tasks entails the following activities:
Wash, Iron, *****, Etc.
(By agreeing to assume the 'wife' status, you hereby agree to the ascribed tasks so long as you retain that status.) - darlingt, on 11/27/2008, -0/+2So what does that mean if you have a small vanilla avocado?
- spaceddaisy, on 11/27/2008, -0/+2Yeah they actually took the wrong 'tattoo' for this.
The military tattoo does come from Dutch with the explanation they gave. It came from a time when a garrison went around town with drums half an hour before curfew with drums to signal military men to their barracks at night. In Dutch it was called "doe den tap toe" (in English: "turn off the tap") to let innkeepers and cafe owners know to stop giving beer to soldiers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_tattoo - inactive, on 11/27/2008, -0/+2I don't know what that has to do with Star Trek, but I can tell you the Kim Catrell was fine as ***** in Big Trouble, Litte China.
- Cerebron, on 11/27/2008, -0/+2Umbrella comes to us from the latin "umbra" meaning "shadow".
- Mawds, on 11/27/2008, -0/+2And Mannequin... mmmmm
- DephexTwin, on 11/27/2008, -0/+1Yeah, it seems like a lot of fun. I can see why you do it.
- mattycoze, on 11/27/2008, -0/+1Lunarbunny exactly what I thought... I call ***** on this article...
- junkneo, on 11/27/2008, -1/+2Boring.... wonder where did this come from.
- aaronized, on 11/27/2008, -2/+3We must all thank Sanskrit for bringing us the Juggernaut.
- tunafizzle, on 11/27/2008, -0/+1random website:
http://www.discharges.org/h/0807/ - codecracker007, on 11/27/2008, -0/+1..and the pundit and guru too
- csrster, on 11/27/2008, -0/+1Moderately obscure fact: the Oxford English Dictionary definition of "walnut" was written by JRR Tolkien while he worked on the dictionary after completing his degree.
- kaoskitten88, on 11/27/2008, -0/+1Dugg because the image of pissed off workers throwing wooden shoes made me giggle.
- hakluytbean, on 11/27/2008, -0/+1Well I could buy this book, alternatively I could keep visiting these sites I've got bookmarked: http://www.word-detective.com/ & http://www.worldwidewords.org/index.htm .
- tunafizzle, on 11/27/2008, -0/+1Now that's a word origin! Take note that the article had noting to do with what you stated.
- svendm, on 11/28/2008, -0/+1Goulash is derived from 'gulyas'. Well, that's no surprize. (Hungarian pronunciation of 'gulyas' isn't that different actually; s is pronounced as 'sh') What's more interesting is that what we call 'goulash' isn't what Hungarians call gulyas(leves). It's a slightly different dish called pörkölt.
- abcdefghij, on 11/27/2008, -0/+1who do we thank for letting us throw our hands in unison in the AYER?
- EvvLushon, on 11/27/2008, -0/+0kangaroo is actually a sentence in aboriginese, kan ga roo, which means " I don't understand you". It's what the Aboriginees told Robert Cook when he came to Australia and asked them about the large land critters that were jumping all over the place:P
- illuminatiscott, on 12/05/2008, -0/+0It doesn't literally mean "little vagina." It literally means "little sheath." The Romans used the terms "vagina," "sheath," and "paenis," "tail," later used as "longsword" in late Latin, as innuendos. They were possibly, if not probably, used by Roman Soldiers, who may have talked about "putting my sword in her sheath." Now they're our politically correct, scientific terms.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=vagina& ...
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=penis&a ... - AncientWeird, on 11/27/2008, -1/+1Thought he did what?
/dugg - RomanCitizen1, on 11/28/2008, -0/+0Spot on about gulyas, our goulash is nothing like the real stuff, it's soup in Hungary. They might as well have used 'hussar', which is exactly the same word and meaning in Hungary.
A far better word would have been 'coach' which comes from kocsi, a small town in Hungary of that name. A kocsi is a cart, but it had a basic suspension system which is why it became popular. Kocsi means 'car' in Hungarian. - PoopInPants, on 11/27/2008, -0/+0Fact 1: avocado is spanish for a lawyer or solicitor that sounded like the native word for to the spanish.
Fact 2: the above about kangaroo is correct.
Fact 3: this guys a moron who probably down loaded his book from etymology web sites. - scoottie, on 11/26/2008, -4/+4i always love seeing what website will be posted
- inactive, on 11/27/2008, -3/+1yes we know you are a douche
- Grin23, on 11/27/2008, -4/+2They forgot the word ***** which is an acronym for fornication under consent of the king
- crazy0, on 11/27/2008, -2/+0woe to the english/spanish contemporary speakers who think their language is unique.....mamen me la verga!
- scoottie, on 11/26/2008, -16/+7they missed a perfect chance for F ....
*****: Fornicate Under Consent of the King
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