http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/forums/15 en-us Copyright 2006, Yuku feeds@yuku.com (FeedMaster) webmaster@yuku.com (WebMaster) Fri, 02 Jul 2004 12:14:31 GMT Yuku Feeds 1.0 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 http://static.yuku.com//feed/bypass/images/button-yuku.png http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/forums/15 Yuku - free hosted forums and profiles 88 31 {pics-1.1 "http://www.icra.org/ratingsv02.html" l gen true for "http://yuku.com" r (nz 1 vz 1 lz 1 oz 1 cz 1 ) "http://www.rsac.org/ratingsv01.html" l gen true for "http://yuku.com" r (n 0 s 0 v 0 l 0 )) Search Domain q http://yuku.com/search/direct/ http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7152/t/go-and-see.html feeds@yuku.com (Rleack) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7152 Fri, 02 Jul 2004 03:19:56 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7131/t/Butskellite.html The Downing Street Years:

A political term dating from the early 1950s, denoting a consensus politician combining the moderate Conservatism of R. A. Butler with the moderate socialism of Hugh Gaitskell.

Has anyone heard of it? And who coined the word? Maggie? ]]> feeds@yuku.com (ElizaD) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7131 Thu, 01 Jul 2004 05:59:06 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7148/t/Troll-Trolls-trawl-trawler.html feeds@yuku.com (pkapleau) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7148 Wed, 30 Jun 2004 12:15:48 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7153/t/today-s-Dr-Science.html
Q: Dear Dr. Science, Why do they call them apple orchards but orange groves?

A: The Hungarian word for apple is "Orch" and, to honor the Magyar dentist who manufactured the first wooden false teeth, President George Washington proclaimed a grove of apple trees to henceforth be known as an orchard. The word "grove" comes, of course, from Grover, the loveable, pot- bellied, fuzzy, blue... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (rrhersh) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7153 Wed, 30 Jun 2004 07:27:44 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7149/t/17th-century-French-pronunciation.html In the gallery of the chateau of Grignan, before an audience of specialists in 17th-century French literature, two musicians sang airs by the one of the Marquise's relatives and read selections from Svign's letters. As the performance advanced, listeners' jaws dropped, and dropped, and dropped still further. Troubled frowns appeared. And although the post-performance comments of these specialists were polite, they could not conceal their shock.

Why so shocked? Well, throughout the... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (aldiboronti) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7149 Wed, 30 Jun 2004 06:59:37 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7132/t/Ten-little-Indians.html
My impression was that the first is rightpondian, the second left. This seems to be the consensus at this site (sorry, no time to translate all the non-English bits, but they're just speculating, so you're not missing much). One person, however, does claim there's a... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (kurwamac) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7132 Wed, 30 Jun 2004 02:44:41 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7143/t/Deer.html
It is intriguing that the generic meaning of beast should be supplanted by the specific deer. Anybody know when and why it happened? ]]> feeds@yuku.com (frma) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7143 Tue, 29 Jun 2004 23:17:22 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7144/t/condition.html
There has been an outbreak of mumps in Northumberland and many people have been vaccinated against the condition.

"Condition" meaning disease isn't in my old SOED and I wondered what the first date for this is. I'd have used "disease" here, rather than "condition". ]]> feeds@yuku.com (ElizaD) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7144 Tue, 29 Jun 2004 09:20:28 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7141/t/Conflab.html
I've used it myself in the past, but I think it's fallen into disuse.

I've tried googling and dictionaries but can't find it's derivation.

Can you clever people help or will I be really embarrassed I couldn't work it out for myself? ]]> feeds@yuku.com (IanTrested) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7141 Tue, 29 Jun 2004 07:35:31 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7135/t/pre-eminent-or-preeminent-.html feeds@yuku.com (daffyduck) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7135 Mon, 28 Jun 2004 18:13:54 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7140/t/New-country-new-word.html The Australian newspaper reports that there are posters in Iraq showing a young police officer, with the caption, "We will protect from from thieves, Al Qaeda people and Zarqawists."

I am not sure what the Arabic word was, or who is responsible for the translation, though the meaning is clear enough.

Google produces exactly zero hits. Has anyone else encountered the term? ]]> feeds@yuku.com (OP Tipping) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7140 Mon, 28 Jun 2004 15:47:25 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7138/t/Busman-s-Holiday.html Word Detective's theory on its origin.

I think that the phrase was originally "buzman's holiday." A "buzman" or "buzzman" in 19th century British criminal slang was a pickpocket, and to "buzz" was to pick someone's pocket. The word came from the common practice of two pickpockets working as a team, one of whom would "buzz the mark," or engage... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (aldiboronti) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7138 Mon, 28 Jun 2004 14:41:12 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7145/t/Clot.html fool, idiot

"You silly clot!"

I now hear it rarely, if at all. OED1 marks it as a variant of clod, and surprisingly, at least to me, calls it dialectical.

Anybody still hear it in their part of the UK? (I assume it has never had currency in the US, although perhaps it survives in Australia?) ]]> feeds@yuku.com (aldiboronti) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7145 Mon, 28 Jun 2004 11:52:09 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7150/t/English-more-versatile-.html Delhi Times praises English for its comprehensiveness:

English has or can devise a word for almost everything. Other languages have to devote cumbersome sentences to explain or describe things. In English theres usually a single, if not always simple, word for it. Which is why English translations of French or Arabic speakers on television finish long before the person... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (aldiboronti) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7150 Mon, 28 Jun 2004 06:54:17 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7134/t/picket-line.html
I'd guess picket line is an old military term that came into use by the labor movement at some point. Is that right? ]]> feeds@yuku.com (JimWilton) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7134 Mon, 28 Jun 2004 05:40:43 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7146/t/Linguists-marvel-at-audacity-of-Yugoslav-swear-words.html article on the way swearing unites the Yugoslavs:

Even though Yugoslavia was a land often characterized by inter-ethnic tension, swear words were one thing the national groups freely borrowed from one another. Serbs serving with Albanians in the federal army loved to swear at their girlfriends in Albanian. When Vojvodinan Slovaks, Rusyns and Hungarians swear, they... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (aldiboronti) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7146 Sun, 27 Jun 2004 11:01:09 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7147/t/Lucus-a-non-lucendo.html
First a couple of cites which are relevant to my question.

I have given you only a small selection of the many Betty Martins there are. My favourite Betty Martiner would have to be the Roman grammarian Honoratus Maurus who did his grammaring at the end of the 4th century ad. He solemnly declared that the Latin word lucus ('a grove or wood', by definition a shady place) was derived from... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (aldiboronti) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7147 Sun, 27 Jun 2004 06:51:50 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7130/t/first-food.html
First Foods? I thought it was "Baby Foods". Are "babys" offensive now? America is PC-crazy!

]]> feeds@yuku.com (hiroshi(d)) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7130 Sat, 26 Jun 2004 23:56:06 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7155/t/stake-out-stalk-out-.html feeds@yuku.com (hiroshi(d)) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7155 Sat, 26 Jun 2004 23:25:57 GMT http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7136/t/Screed-.html
I have never heard the word before, but since I've finally heard it, I presume I shall hear it many times in the future.

The folks on this show were leveling a section of dirt combined with gravel in a back yard, and then laying stone over it so that a water flow thing would be perfect within their ideally perfect back yard.

The thing... ]]> feeds@yuku.com (Eyehawk) http://wordoriginsorg.yuku.com/topic/7136 Sat, 26 Jun 2004 20:41:42 GMT