 Last month we took a look at six words meaning to complain, but we English-speaking folk are not fenced in by a mere six ways of complaining. Here are a few more.
From Old Norse we get the word carp, to complain or find fault with. In Old Norse it meant to brag. Nobody’s sure about its source before that. Etymologists believe that as carp made its way into English the Old Norse word shook hands with the Latin word carpere, to slander or revile, & became the English verb carp. All this happened in the 1200s. Though one might think the complaining carp might be related to the fishy carp, there is no relationship. The word for the fish probably came from Gothic through a Germanic language, then through Vulgar Latin & Old French to land in English in the 1300s, just in time to allow our linguistic ancestors to carp about carp. And then there’s gripe. The verb gripe came to English about 1200. It originally meant to clutch or seize firmly & came from an Old English word meaning to grasp at or attack. The to complain meaning of gripe didn’t come to English until 1932, The verb grumble came to English in the 1580s meaning to complain in a low voice. It may have come from a Middle French word meaning to mutter between the teeth or from a Middle Dutch word meaning to murmur, mutter, or grunt. In 1885 the verb grouse showed up in English, meaning to complain. It came from British Army slang. It’s not clear where those British soldiers picked it up, but there happens to be an Old French word meaning to murmur, grumble, or complain: groucier. That Old French word that may have been the source of grouse was definitely the source of another way to complain, grutch. Grutch showed up in the English in the 1200s. The word snivel, to complain or whine tearfully, appeared in English in the 1600s. Its Old English source, snyflan, meant to run at the nose. Interestingly, the Middle English used the related noun snivelard to refer to one who weeps, cries or whines. So many ways to complain! Please register your complaints or comments in the comments section. Big thanks to this week’s sources: Etymonline, Wordnik, Merriam-Webster & the OED
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 A while ago my loving wife asked about the source of the word doxology. Before whipping out my trusty dictionary, the in-brain-search yielded possible connections to paradox & heterodox. But the in-brain-search would never have come up with a connection to the word decent. And that’s one of the things I find intriguing about etymologies. So often, a good word history includes a surprise.
Doxology showed up in English in the 1640s, meaning a hymn of praise. The first bit of the word came from the Greek word doxa, meaning glory, praise, or opinion. Doxa is a later form of the Greek word dokein, meaning to appear, seem, or think. I’d love to know the circumstances that caused an association between opinion & praise or glory. A heterodox is something not in accordance with established doctrine, which makes perfect sense, since its two word parts add up to mean the other opinion. Heterodox came to English in the 1630s. The word paradox arrived in English in the 1530s. In this case, para- meant contrary, so a paradox is something contrary to what one might expect. A word that should have popped up in my in-brain-search is orthodox, which came from the Greek word orthodoxos, which originally meant, having the right opinion. Since ortho- means right, true, or straight, this original meaning shouldn’t surprise us. Today, the word orthodox is most often used to mean traditional. All the doxa-related words above came through Greek from the Proto-Indo-European root dek, meaning to greet or be suitable. But when the Latin-speakers got hold of dek, it became decere, to be fitting or suitable. This Latin word gave birth in the 1530s to the English word decent, which initially meant proper to one’s rank or station, then went on to add these meanings: By 1600, good taste; By 1712, satisfying; About that same time, tolerable; By 1902, kind or pleasant; & By 1949 the backstage question “Are you decent?” came to mean “Are you dressed?” And from the “what is the world coming to?” department, the Oxford English Dictionary recognizes the 1814 birth of the word decentish. Who knew? If you’ve got any comments (decent or indecent) regarding all this, please do so in the comments section. Big thanks to this week’s sources Etymonline, Wordnik, Merriam-Webster & the OED  Last week we considered some descendants of the Latin root cadere, to fall. This week we’ll take a look at some less likely descendants of that same word.
When the conductor’s baton falls it establishes the cadence, of the piece. Cadence showed up in English in the late 1300s, meaning flow of rhythm in verse or music. The past participle of the Latin word cadere was casus, meaning a mishap, accident, chance or opportunity (not only can we fall on bad times, we can fall on good fortune). Casus gave birth to a number of English words, one of the first being case. Used as early as the 1200s to mean what befalls one, then in the 1300s adding its grammatical sense & the meaning an instance or example. From there it blossomed to include all the meanings of case we employ today. In the late 1300s the word occasion came to English. It traveled through Old French from casus, & throws light on an occasion (or falling) being referred to with the idiom “what’s going down”. Another form of casus/cadere is cidere. It brought us the word incident (meaning event) in the early 1400s. It also brought us recidivist, to fall back again, a word used to refer to one who falls back into sin in the 1400s & adding the meaning a relapsed criminal in the 1800s. Also born of cidere is the word coincide, meaning to fall together. Coincide showed up in the 1700s. And though a fallen apple might get turned into cider, there is no etymological relationship between cider & cidere. When cadere made its way into Vulgar Latin, it was used to refer to the fall of the dice, then made its way through French to show up in the 1300s as the English word chance. In French law when land went to the state due to the lack of heirs, the Latin word excadere, to fall away became in French escheat, which made its way into English in the 1400s as cheat. All from a little old word meaning to fall. I’m hoping, dear reader, you’ll post a comment. I’m particularly interested in which of these descendants of cadere surprised or intrigued you most. Big thanks to this week’s sources: Etymonline, Wordnik, Merriam-Webster & the OED  The words cadaver, decay, accident, decadent, cascade & deciduous all share a source: the Latin verb cadere, meaning to fall.
I’m hoping your eyes just glanced back over that list of words, causing your brain to experience a satisfying little jolt. Given the opportunity, we can “see” the fall in each of those words. Cadaver appeared in English in 1500, meaning dead body. Decay, meaning to decrease, made it into English a few years earlier after a tour through Old French & Anglo-French. Accident appeared in English in the 1300s, meaning an occurrence or incident. Its Latin root was accidentem, to happen, fall out or fall upon. Decadent, meaning in a state of decline or decay, showed up in 1837, a back-formation of decadence. Cascade, a synonym for waterfall, came to English in the 1640s through Italian, then French. Deciduous, meaning that which falls off, showed up in English in the 1680s straight from Latin. Next week we’ll take a look at some not-so-obvious descendants of this same root. In the meantime I’m hoping you’ll use the comments section to let me know whether your brain experienced that satisfying little jolt mentioned in the first paragraph of this post. Big thanks to this week’s sources: Etymonline, Wordnik, Merriam-Webster & the OED  English boasts some wonderful words having to do with complaints.
The word whine has been with us since English became English. In Old English it had two uses: to refer to arrows as they hissed or whistled through the air, & to refer to a dog’s whines (an imitative word). In 1520 whine added the meaning to complain in a feeble or annoying fashion. The same Old English roots gave us the word whinge, to complain peevishly. A British dialectical term born in the 1500s, whinge has made its way across the Pond. I hope others appreciate its trans-Atlantic voyage as much as I do. Beginning in 1888 in England a complaint could be referred to as a beef. Etymologists suggest this probably came from British soldiers’ complaints regarding the mystery meat their superiors were claiming was beef. The term belly-ache, meaning stomach pain, appeared in the 1590s. It picked up the figurative meaning to complain in 1888. Interestingly, the first recorded uses of belly-ache in America reflected the figurative meaning of the term. In 1825 an English word meaning to gnaw came into use. Within only three years it picked up the meaning to complain. This word is nag, which appears to have come from a Scandinavian source. It seems to have no etymological relationship to the word nag meaning old horse, which came from Dutch. The English verb kvetch, to complain, made its way to us in 1953 (the noun, meaning a chronic complainer arrived before that in 1936). The original literal Yiddish verb’s meaning was to squeeze or press. I’m hoping you’ve got something to say about all these kvetch-worthy words. If so, please leave a note in the comments section. Big thanks to this week’s sources: Etymonline, Wordnik, Merriam-Webster & the OED  Nothing like an etymological tour of arbitrary states of the USA. Earlier in the month we covered California & Pennsylvania. This week we’re off to Georgia.
The word jarhead, meaning US Marine, showed up first in print in 1985 in a biographical book about WWII. Interestingly, the word jarhead was in use much earlier. In the 1920s in the state of Georgia, jarhead meant mule. Though other sources have been proposed, the most likely source of the word lulu heralds from the state of Georgia. 15-year-old Georgian vaudeville performer, Lulu Hurst, became a sensation in 1883. She could cause canes, umbrellas, or chairs held firmly by resolute audience members to move and shake (or so it seemed). Once her methods were discovered, she quit show business, even cancelling a vaudeville tour of Europe. Ever since, though, something amazing or remarkable can be referred to as a lulu. Snake oil took America by storm in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Linguists aren’t certain where the term was first uttered, but it certainly made its way to Georgia. There appears to be little correlation with the remedy’s ingredients & its name, though records show many charlatans and barkers claimed it was made of rattlesnake oil. In Georgia, snake oil was said to cure rheumatism & gout, in Pennsylvania it was said to cure deafness, & in the states in between, it was said to cure pretty much everything in between. From relative obscurity in an Atlanta, Georgia strip club in 2005, the word twerk became a national sensation. It could be argued that countless earlier dancers danced in a manner meant to simulate copulation, but the honor of introducing greater America to the term goes to The Ying Yang Twins. Before their big hit in 2005, the term was popular in southern hip-hop circles for at least ten years. Much earlier in Atlanta (1886), Dr. John S. Pemberton invented Coca-Cola. The inspiration for the name came because the original ingredients were derived from cola nuts and coca leaves. Pemberton marketed his fizzy drink as a “brain tonic” and “intellectual soda fountain beverage”. An interesting non-Georgia related historic tidbit is that in 1950, the wine growers & communists of France joined together to attempt a ban on Coca-Cola, which was seen as both a threat to the French wine industry & an ugly example of American capitalism. How about all these Georgia words? I hope you’ll leave a comment or two. Big thanks to this week’s sources: Etymonline, Wordnik, Merriam Webster, & the OED.  Tamora Pierce is a writer of middle grade & teen fantasy. Her books introduce readers to fascinating, intelligent, strong, female protagonists. Her books made a splash in 1983 & she's still going strong. We’ll celebrate by enjoying a few quotes from Ms. Pierce & her characters. From her novel Lady Knight Threats are the last resort of a man with no vocabulary. From her novel Page If arrogance were shoes, he'd never go barefoot. From her novel Squire Haven’t you ever noticed that people who win say it’s because the gods know they are in the right, but if they lose, it wasn’t the gods who declared them wrong? Their opponent cheated, or their equipment was bad. From her novel The Woman Who Rides Like a Man Men don't think any differently from women - they just make more noise about being able to. From various interviews: I distrust any advice that contains the words 'ought' or 'should'. Girls are 50% of the population. We deserve to represent 50% of the heroes. You look as scary as a buttered muffin. And from her story collection Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales Without reading, we are all without light in the dark, without fire in the cold. If you haven’t wallowed around in the fantasy worlds of Tamora Pierce, I highly suggest you put her on your reading list. Big thanks to this week’s sources Dare to Be Stupid, The Atlantic, Goodreads  Lately, it's been far too easy to focus on "what those people are doing." I'm thinking we can improve the next year by focusing instead on what we ourselves are doing.. For instance, giving.
Give is a word that has been with English speakers for a very long time – actually, even before we had a language called English. Give takes up a whopping seven and a half pages of the OED & has seventy-two meanings, both transitive & intransitive. Wow. Give came from the Proto-Indo-European word ghabh-, which interestingly meant to have, to hold, to give & to receive. Talk about ann all-purpose word. Some intriguing bits of trivia: -The reason we can give someone a cold is the thankfully forgotten belief that by infecting others we can heal ourselves (give someone a cold while taking that person’s health). -In Old English give started with a y & was spelled yiven (mostly). Nobody knows why, but it looks as though give’s Old Norse cousin gefa (give) influenced it enough to change that initial letter. -The idiom I don’t give a ____ has been around since the 1300s. Early words that filled in the blank were a straw, a grass & a mite. -The idiom what gives? was born in the 1940s. -The related word gift showed up in the 1300s. In Swedish, gift means poison. -One of the earliest English meanings of gift was natural talent, inspiration. -Idioms that employ the word give include: -give up -give the finger -give someone a break -give the shirt off one’s back -give someone the shaft -give someone the nod -give someone the evil eye -give someone five -give someone the creeps -give someone a shot -give someone the third degree -give someone the low down -give someone the green light -give someone a hard time -give someone a hand -give someone some skin -don’t give up our day jobs In the coming year, may we all be able to focus on our own actions more than the actions of others, and may we all find many ways to give.. Big thanks to this week’s sources Learn American English Online, Wordnik, Etymonline,& the OED  As we start a new year, we typically hope it will be a good one. In my humble opinion, one way to make it a good year is to focus on our own expressions of genuine kindness.
Kindness is a big word. Its synonyms provide a little insight into the vast nature of kindness. One who is compassionate expresses a propensity for sympathy & mercy. Benevolence implies altruism, a charitable nature, the tendency to be looking out for others more than oneself, & a stalwart commitment to doing good. One who is benign is gentle & mild. A gracious person exudes a kind warmth, a courteous elegance, & shows a propensity for tact, charm, & good taste. Someone who is thoughtful is contemplative & encourages the well-being & happiness of others. Those who have an innately kind disposition or character are said to be kindhearted or kindly. One who is courteous shows gracious consideration toward others & displays good manners & etiquette. One who is sympathetic shows a susceptibility to the feelings of others & sometimes an altruism inspired by that susceptibility. One who is empathetic has the capacity to understand others’ points of view & can strongly identify with another’s situation & emotions. Here’s to the new year. May we fill with all the many facets of kindness. Big thanks to this week’s sources Thesaurus.com, The 1959 Webster’s New World Dictionary, Wordnik, Merriam-Webster & the OED  This week marks the 106th anniversary of a remarkable event that took place in France during World War I. Known as the Christmas Truce, & celebrated in song and story, surging with a 1984 recording by folksinger, John McCutcheon.
First, a look at the etymology of the word truce, then onto the Christmas Truce: what some might call a temporary ebb in hostilities, some might call a miracle, & some might call a reflection of the true nature of humanity. Truce showed up in English in the 1200s, meaning treaty, covenant, or faith. It came from an Old English word that meant pledge, promise, faith or agreement, which came from a Proto-Indo-European verb meaning hope, believe, or trust. The Christmas Truce was an unsanctioned agreement between German and British soldiers to cross into No-Man’s Land on Christmas Eve &/or Christmas day, where to quote McCutcheon’s song, “with neither gun nor bayonet, we met them hand to hand.” The men sang carols, shook hands, shared food, liquor & cigarettes, played soccer, & traded photographs of the people back home that they loved. Based on a word meaning hope, believe or trust, the Chirstmas Truce offered exactly that to soldiers who’d spent the previous weeks huddling in muddy trenches, surrounded by the horrors of war. The generals in charge didn’t participate, but a lot of infantrymen did, and not all on that one Christmas Eve. Afterward, soldiers arranged follow-up unofficial truces as the war dragged on, so that all told, up to 100,000 soldiers took the opportunity to lay down their guns & celebrate peace. Here’s a Christmas wish for more of the same. If you’ve got six and a half minutes & you’d like to hear John McCutcheon sing the song, you can do so here. Peace to you all. Big thanks to this week’s sources History.com, Eyewitness to History, Wordnik, Etymonline, & the OED |
I write for teens, narrate audio books, bake bread, play music, and ponder the wonder of words in a foggy little town on California's central coast.
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