Word Facts

Most people will probably have experienced jumbling together two words by mistake while trying to articulate one. In the case of 'humongous', the process through which it came about isn't exactly like that, but it isn't totally like a normal compound either. The word originated in the 1970's, and is thought to be a blend of 'huge' and 'monstrous', but as should be evident, the term did not emerge just from those two words, as it the stress and syllable structures are not totally the same. It is believed that 'humongous' was influenced from the same stress-pattern as 'stupendous'. Though there are plenty of compounds and portmanteaus in English, not all of them maintain each element as it originally was. Support Word Facts on patreon.com/wordfacts for even more.

Much of the way that people know how languages sounded in the past is simple analogous descriptions. For example, writers in both Latin and Middle English would liken the pronunciation of R to the growling of dogs, indicating that the sound was trilled, unlike in Modern Standard English. In fact, a name for the letter R in Latin was 'littera canīna' which is literally 'the dog's letter'. This might sound silly, but these sorts of things have helped to further linguistics. For more about R, read this .

Historically, the influence of rhyming has led to the creation or modification  of many words along the way.  While as a trend this is less common today than at other times in history, this still happens plenty. For instance, the word 'podcast' was created deliberately to sound like 'broadcast'. It is true that it is a contraction of 'iPod' and '-cast', but it could have just as well have been called something more general or fitting like 'webcast' was, but it wouldn't have sounded as catchy.

Since emotions naturally have physiological responses to them, many words have some relation across both. Just like, 'clam (up)', 'choke (up)', and 'verklempt'  the pressure and muscular tension that one feel when emotional translates into the language too. In the case of 'worry', the approach is a bit more historical, but the effect is the same, as in Old English, 'wyrgan', meant 'to strangle'. A worried person might feel strangled, but actually the word only started applying to emotions in the Middle English period when the word came to mean 'tear at the throat' and then less harshly 'harass'. In fact, 'worry' could only be used as a verb, and therefore in the context of 'worrying someone' until the 19th century, and the word is still used to describe dogs and other animals gnawing and chewing.

A number of birds are considered to be brooding parasites, because they lay their eggs in other birds' nests. One such bird is the cuckoo bird , and while its name is imitative, it has lead to more words later on. The term 'cuckold' comes from the relation to the birds laying eggs in another bird's nest, and moreover, cuckoos were common in folklore of the Middle Ages, which helped to popularize the idea. While the term 'cuckold' has around since at least the 13th century, by the 16th century, the term 'cuckquean' was coined as the feminine form.

In older ships, the captain would stand in in the middle to give orders. However, as ships developed, new platforms needed to be made on the main deck. This all changed with the advent of steam ships and paddle ships, because these interfered with the pilot and the captains field of vision. As such, the bridge over the paddles was built. Today, this is no longer the case, but the term ‘bridge’ is still in use.

The Latin 'primus' meaning 'first', has lead to many English words, such as 'prime', which mean 'first' but also 'best'. In the case of 'primate', this is still true, and has to do with the zoological order being considered of the first, highest order. However, this is where ' primitive ' comes from because it also meant 'undeveloped'. Moreover, the word 'pristine', which today means  'spotless' or 'unspoilt' also meant 'primitive; undeveloped' or less judgmentally at least 'original' in the past. This was the case since the 16th century, and only changed to what it is now in the 1920s. As a side-note, at the time when 'primate' was coined for animals, bats were considered primates too.

While 'to jerk' and 'to pull' are sometimes synonymous, their usage in 'jerk chicken' and 'pulled pork' are not. The reason for this is in the etymology. The verb 'to jerk' can be used to describe an array of sudden, sharp movements, and fittingly it thought to come from the sound of a whip, though over the years it has certainly changed. However, the dish is one of Latin American origins, and has its roots in the South American language Quechua's 'echarqui' meaning ‘dried flesh’, and it entered English via the Spanish Spanish 'charquear'. Support Word Facts on patreon.com/wordfacts

Although it is not always possible to translate the extra connotations a word carries in one language into another, sometimes they developed similarly enough that it isn't a problem. The Latin word 'corona', for instance, meant 'garland', but that then gained other connotations of anything arranged in a circle, including metal crowns (a word also derived from 'corona'). However, it also denoted an assembly of people, usually related to academics. In Aramaic too, the word 'כלילא' ('kalilah') refers to a garland of flowers, and an assembly of teachers. This happens sometimes by accident when there is a natural or in this case a cultural connection between the two ideas is strong; Aramaic and Latin are not related. Support Word Facts on patreon.com/wordfacts

The word 'lampoon' used to describe satirical work comes from French, but no one knows why for sure. The word is believed to have had the meaning in French of 'let us drink'; in the 17th century 'lampons' was a common refrain in drinking-songs. The word itself comes from 'lamper' ('to gulp') which is a form of 'laper' ('liquid') related to the English verb 'lap'. While this is not controversial information, no on is quite sure why this came to denote satire. Get more from Word Facts at patreon.com/wordfacts

In many ways, English is the odd one out in the Germanic family, but this has also given many lexical differences not present elsewhere. For instance, in English, 'learn' and 'teach' are not interchangeable, though until the 19th century, 'learn' carried both meanings. This is true in German still, where 'lernen' is 'to learn' and 'to teach', though a 'Lerner' is only a learner; 'teacher' is the quite-similar 'Lehrer' though. The word 'teach' is of Germanic origin, but did not catch on the same way in other Germanic languages. It comes from a root meaning 'show' related to 'token' and its German synonym 'Zeichen'. For a recent Word Theory relating to German's history, click here .

For something to be "in your wheelhouse", it is something in which you have knowledge, control, or ease in doing. Going off the obviously compounded name, and it is easy to see how this term could have originated as a nautical term. On a boat, a wheelhouse is the control center, though not the command center, as that's the bridge. Indeed, the term began to denote a simple wooden box used to cover the steering wheel whoever manned it from the elements. Thus, something in the wheelhouse was something easily controlled. Support Word Facts on Patreon.com/wordfacts

The word 'cockpit' today is most often used in aviation, but—as with many of those terms—the origins are nautical. The cockpit originated as the term for the seat of the coxswain, who commands the rowing and steering. However, more literally, the term has also been used to describe a pit used for cockfighting in middle English. The term, however has been transferred to all sorts of things, including the lower part of the ships too, so there is not as much consistency as one might expect. It was only in the 1930's that first cars (usually in racing) and then planes also had sections referred to as the cockpit.  Support Word Facts  patreon.com/wordfacts

The origin of 'joe' as 'coffee' is unclear, but there are a number of quite wide-ranging theories. On one end, some believe it comes from the name of an American coffee merchant at the turn of the last century, Joseph Martinson, and on the other end, some believe it is an alteration of the Indonesian island 'Java'. Neither make total sense chronologically and otherwise, and the former was no doubt influenced by advertising, but there is an explanation to bridge the gap. 'Joe' used to be the term for a Portuguese coin from the name of the king of Portugal in the 1770's, so given Portuguese control of what is now Indonesia, Brazil, and other coffee-growing areas, this could be a source on its own or in conjunction with another. Support Word Facts on patreon.com/wordfacts

The English pronunciation of 'Canaan' is relatively closer to the Hebrew form כנען (knʿn)  where it is derived compared to the later Greek synonym 'Phoenicia', but it is still quite different. First, Semitic languages have their stress later in the word than in Germanic languages usually, but earlier English pronunciations of Canaan used to be closer to the original. During the Great Vowel Shift, which moved English from Middle English to Modern English the [aː] sound—which is the same as in 'hat' in Standard British English became [eɪ] as in the first syllable of 'Canaan', but this is further from the physiologically central [ə] in Hebrew. So, when it was a just loanword from Latin and earlier Gree k [2], the name was closer to how it originally was, as Hebrew and other Semitic languages can replace any unstressed vowel with a [ə] or something close.

In the Bible, far and away the most used ethnic term to be found is 'Canaan(ite)'. The term 'Canaanite' is from the name given by its own peoples, but some people may be more familiar with the Greek derivative 'Phoenician' or the Latin-based 'Punics' as in the Punic Wars. Even though the names look different, they are are understood to come from words for 'purple', as this seafaring traders were best to some for their dies, such as Tyrian or "Royal" Purple from shell-based inks. Indeed, the Greeks and Romans did have a word for these people resembling the native one 'Χαναάν' (Khanaan) and 'Canaan' respectively, but the calques were more popular. There will be more on this tomorrow, but you can read more on this people here .

'Kansas' and 'Arkansas' sound different, but look really similar. They are both US states named for the same thing, the Kansas River, but the name ultimately comes from the kká:ze tribe. The French originally controlled this area before the United States did, and much like 'Illinois', or ' Laos ', the S in the spelling was not supposed to represent a sound. Indeed, in early Kansas history, it didn't; the original name comes from the river, so in this case it is possessive: the Kansa's River. The extra syllable in Arkansas is thought to come from a variant used by the Quapaw tribe to pronounce the kká:ze tribe's name, and the R was added to reflect the non-rhoticity of the Southern accent .

One of the Navajo words for horse used to mean dog; while in general a single word can be translated literally, the other meanings and connotations it carries will not be conveyed. In this case the word łį́į́ʼ (standard quotations omitted to not confuse the spelling) could be translated sometimes 'livestock', but is conveys positive emotions, such as 'pet' would too, so it would often be used for 'dog' as well. This changed when they were introduced to horses, at which point horses became favored, and łį́į́ʼ was used to describe them. After that, dogs were called łééchąąʼí meaning literally 'shit pet'. Support Word Facts on patreon.com/wordfacts for even more content.

Johnson's 1755 dictionary was the first to add definitions, but it did not contain a section for the letter X. His rationale for this was that no English word began with it. In some sense, especially in 1755, that was true. Xylophones did not exist, and x-rays didn't either, but even so, most of the words that have X were, and still are, from Greek, and his dictionary did not include many technical terms; of the 250,000-odd words in English at the time, he only included 42,773. Moreover his dictionary was focused on promoting English, so including foreign words would not have helped in this goal. Read yesterday's post about this dictionary here .

In Johnson's 1755 dictionary, among the nearly 43,000 definitions, he included the famous 'oats': 'a grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.' Aside from being a sick burn—or in Scotland a 'sick Burns'—at the time, the dictionary also established itself not only as a wordlist  but it also included quotes from historical and literary figures to bolster national pride. Many people attribute the snide definition of 'oats' as reminiscent of a Pliny quote which relates the same idea about Germanic peoples.

Many names for Native American tribes were decided by other groups. This is called an exonym, and possibly nowhere has as many as Germany , but in the Americas, sometimes tries are named after seemingly random words, as in the case of ' Ojibwe '. However, like what happened with 'Germany' and its many foreign names, the Slavey tribe was named because the Cree often referred to enemy tribes pejoratively as 'slaves', as they would often enslave them. The French first took this Cree name and translated it as 'esclaves', and this was then transferred into English. The Slavey people often call themselves Dene.

If a movie bombs, that is to say is does poorly, but if a movie is a blockbuster—the name for a type of bomb—it means it had commercial success. The term 'blockbuster' comes from the '40's when the word referred to a bomb powerful enough to demolish a city-block. The first movie known to be called a 'blockbuster' was the 1943 and 1944 the war dramas 'Bombardier', 'Bataan', and 'With the Marines at Tarawa', quite fittingly and probably somewhat of a play on words. However, quickly after the term moved away from war and meant something—usually a film—with a big impact. The relation to the bomb was also strengthened by the national attention on war during WWII, and only survived afterwards by some luck. Support Word Facts on Patreon.com/wordfacts

Adam's apples are more prominent on men than women, so it was deemed fitting to name it after the first man, Adam (אדם). It doesn't look much like an apple, but that's because the biblical imagery doesn't end there. The thyroid cartilage of the larynx is usually referred to as Adam's apple after the idea that a piece of the forbidden fruit, popularly conceived of as an apple was lodged in Adam's throat. For more on why the forbidden fruit is referred to as an apple, see here . Over the last few days, there have been posts about the larynx, so read all about the larynx here .

Most of the sounds produced by human speech is done through the tongue, lips, nasal tract, larynx, and teeth. Birds have very few of those physical attributes, save tongue, and yet are able to produce an amazing range of notes. This is because, instead of a larynx, they have a syrinx , which is a type of larynx, but rather than being at the top of the esophagus, it is at the bottom. They also have two sets of vocal folds (human have only one) and are able to manipulate them both separately at the same time. This is how they are able to produce much of the range of sounds they can, though their tongue and beaks do play a factor as well. For even more on 'syrinx', see here .

As discussed yesterday, ' syrinx ' means pipes, both in the context of windpipes and pan pipes from Greek mythology, but it also lead other, less familiar looking words. 'Syringe' for instance also comes from 'syrinx'. This is a different sort of pipe, or in this case chanel, but as a medical term it is not surprising to see something from Greek. Notably, both words in question start with 'sy-', but for a short time, 'syrinx' was also spelt with 'su-'. More will be discussed about this tomorrow.

Humans are able to make different vibrations, such as in the difference between [s] and [z] using the larynx. The etymology of this word is not totally certain, though it has meant 'upper windpipe' since the days of Latin; what is more certain is that is was influenced by the word 'pharynx', which is also a word for the windpipe, particularly in invertebrates, again from Latin. Still related though is the word 'spirynx', which is a larynx in the lower windpipe that birds have, except rather than just having Latin roots, this word comes from the name of the nymph in the story of Pan. In the story, the pursued nymph asked to be turned into reeds to escape, but Pan turned them into 'pan pipes' to play. The physiology of the syrinx will be discussed this week. Support Word Facts on patreon.com/wordfacts

"Going on a snipe hunt" is another way of saying "fool's errand", or indeed "wild goose chase", and in North America is used as a way to describe a useless task. However, while their speed, size, and irregular flight paths have made them notoriously hard to catch, the snipe also gave rise to the word 'sniper', as people needed to use camouflage and high-precision rifles to get these birds. Support Word Facts on Patreon.com/wordfacts and see more about names for birds here.

The 'dodo' was named for the Portuguese word for 'simpleton', but even this might not be the most disparaging name for a bird out there. The heron, particularly the small green heron, is known by the name 'shitepoke' in reference to how often it defecates when scared, while nesting etc.. Indeed, this name that can be applied to all herons has also gone by the name 'shiterow' which originated as a bastardization of 'shiteheron', which means that this name was not a disambiguation at all, and just was a longer, not-so-nice way of saying 'heron'. Moreover, while the term 'heron' over all is significantly older, the word 'shiterow' was also used to describe thin or feeble people. Support Word Facts on Patreon.com/wordfacts

The words 'wealth' and 'health' rhyme, which makes sense even just looking at the spelling, but this was less of a guarantee than it might appear now. ' Health ' comes from Old English in which the vowel was 'ǣ'—like the vowel in 'pal'—but the words 'heal' also comes from this, and 'hail' is related, so these vowels have all changed independently over time. Moreover, 'wealth' comes from either 'well' or 'weal', which has a closer meaning but doesn't sound as similar. Either way, the spelling of 'wealth' and not 'wellth' was done so not in spite of but because following the pattern of the spelling for 'health'. Read about the Word Theory concerning this word in practice here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/26458445