EMM - Etymological Mystery Megathread v3 - The Something Awful Forums

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > General Bullshit > EMM - Etymological Mystery Megathread v3

chaosbreather: Dec 9, 2001; Wry and wise,
but also very sexual.

It's another 21st so it's time for another EMM! Let's explore the meanings and history behind the words and phrases of the greatest language.

- 'Computer' used to be a job description, in the 17th century. It sounded like a pretty horrible job, doing basically what electronic computers do now: perform numerical operations in a strictly defined way. It was a common source of employment for women, right up into World War 2.

- Why does 'foxy' mean 'sexy' when foxes are not sexy?

:siren:

PLEASE BE AWARE this is the etymological mysteries thread, not the entomological mysteries thread. No insects!

# ? Jun 21, 2016 04:22

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# ? Apr 23, 2024 09:13

Applewhite: Aug 16, 2014; by vyelkin; Nap Ghost

If you don't think foxes are sexy OP there are a few Deviantart pages I could link you that may just change your mind...

# ? Jun 21, 2016 04:35

chaosbreather: Dec 9, 2001; Wry and wise,
but also very sexual.

Applewhite posted:

If you don't think foxes are sexy OP there are a few Deviantart pages I could link you that may just change your mind...

but the usage was as early as 1895, well pre-dating deviant art or even japan

One theory proposed by etymonline notes that a writer during the reign of Thredward complained that English women's clothing was so tight/scanty "that they let hang fox tails sewn inside their clothes at the back to ... hide their arses," which he was convinced "brougte for�e & encausid many mys-happis & mischeuys in �e reaume of Engelond", but Thredward was the 14th century, and I doubt the practice survived to 1895 America.

# ? Jun 21, 2016 05:26

Dinosaurmageddon: Jul 7, 2007; by zen death robot; Hell Gem

chaosbreather posted:

- Why does 'foxy' mean 'sexy' when foxes are not sexy?

Clever like a fox = foxy.

Clever, foxy people are by nature social climbers and schemers, and will often resort to seductive means in order to get what they desire. As females they are often the type to wear expensive fox's furs when it's in style, too.

# ? Jun 21, 2016 05:37

Dinosaurmageddon: Jul 7, 2007; by zen death robot; Hell Gem

chaosbreather posted:

- 'Computer' used to be a job description

Help computer-

Stop all the downloading.

# ? Jun 21, 2016 05:42

VendaGoat: Nov 1, 2005

Dis thread :five:

# ? Jun 21, 2016 05:45

chaosbreather: Dec 9, 2001; Wry and wise,
but also very sexual.

From the excellent Hypatia Text Protocol newsletter:

quote:

The original meaning of sycophant is "a tale-teller about figs."

In 6th Century Athens, a sykophant was someone who accused someone of smuggling figs. This was done for two reasons. First, exporting food other than olives was illegal in Athens, but certain types of blackmail were permitted: so people were threatened with false accusations for money. Second, accusations were sometimes made to garner favour with local authorities. It is from this act that we derive sycophant's modern meaning: "behaving in an obsequious way to gain advantage."

# ? Jun 22, 2016 04:32

a few DRUNK BONERS: Mar 25, 2016

What's the deal with butterflies I mean where's the butter

# ? Jun 22, 2016 04:37

chaosbreather: Dec 9, 2001; Wry and wise,
but also very sexual.

a few DRUNK BONERS posted:

What's the deal with butterflies I mean where's the butter

drat a few drunk boners this is a good one

etymonline doesn't know either, they think it could be because that their poo poo looks like butter, from the dutch 'boterschijte'

# ? Jun 22, 2016 04:54

i like that: May 22, 2016; by FactsAreUseless

The cold sores on my lips and genitalia are not actually 'cold'

# ? Jun 22, 2016 04:55

chaosbreather: Dec 9, 2001; Wry and wise,
but also very sexual.

i like that posted:

The cold sores on my lips and genitalia are not actually 'cold'

we don't tend to use the term 'cold sores' around here, but wikipedia says "cold sore" comes from the fact that herpes labialis is often triggered by fever, for example, as may occur during an upper respiratory tract infections (i.e. a cold)

# ? Jun 22, 2016 04:58

a few DRUNK BONERS: Mar 25, 2016

The germanic substrate hypothesis is creepy as hell

Whered we get these words like bull bear horse weed lamb chicken that arent connected to any other indo european languages

Maybe we stole them from some group of people (neanderthals) who we then totally wiped out and the only evidence is their left over words

# ? Jun 22, 2016 05:03

Simstim: Mar 16, 2005; You just gave me a great idea buddy.

anus comes from the latin word "ring"

I take this to mean ancient people liked to stick their fingers in their asses

# ? Jun 22, 2016 05:18

The Protagonist: Jun 29, 2009; The average is 5.5? I thought it was 4. This is very unsettling.

Who was jerry and was he a real-life macgyver? He could rig up anything apparently

# ? Jun 22, 2016 07:18

Corky Romanovsky: Oct 1, 2006; Soiled Meat

Mono means one.
Rail means rail.

Monorail

# ? Jun 22, 2016 07:42

chaosbreather: Dec 9, 2001; Wry and wise,
but also very sexual.

The Protagonist posted:

Who was jerry and was he a real-life macgyver? He could rig up anything apparently

jerry was actually originally 'jury', british nautical slang meaning 'temporary'. etymonline suggests that maybe its originally from the French 'ajurie', meaning help or relief.

# ? Jun 22, 2016 07:50

Corky Romanovsky: Oct 1, 2006; Soiled Meat

Rickshaw comes from the Japanese jinrikisha.

# ? Jun 22, 2016 07:50

Corky Romanovsky: Oct 1, 2006; Soiled Meat

Hey OP, I recall hearing that many US place names derived from native languages, but also happen to be pejorative names recorded from different tribes. Like Arkansas derived from some other groups phrase for "little help hole", Winnebago derived from a different groups "stinky water". Can you verify, and if so provide some additional instances?

# ? Jun 22, 2016 08:05

H.H: Oct 24, 2006; August is the Cruelest Month

a few DRUNK BONERS posted:

What's the deal with butterflies I mean where's the butter

it was actually flutterby until stupid people decided that butterflies looked like flies.

i'm serious.

# ? Jun 22, 2016 08:14

H.H: Oct 24, 2006; August is the Cruelest Month

obligatory:

etymonline.com posted:

cuckold (n.)

mid-13c., kukewald, from Old French cucuault, from cocu (see cuckoo) + pejorative suffix -ault, of Germanic origin. So called from the female bird's alleged habit of changing mates, or her authentic habit of leaving eggs in another bird's nest.

In Modern French the identity is more obvious: Coucou for the bird and cocu for the betrayed husband. German Hahnrei (13c.), from Low German, is of obscure origin. The second element seems to be connected to words for "ardent," and suggests perhaps "sexually aggressive hen," with transferal to humans, but Kluge suggests rather a connection to words for "capon" and "castrated."
Related: Cuckoldry.

# ? Jun 22, 2016 08:16

a star war betamax: Sep 17, 2011; by Lowtax; Gary’s Answer

Some clown up above in the thread asked about "butteflys" and if I remember right.... there are two theories:

1) butter comes from the fact that butterflys would hover around and land on milk and butter and whatever while it was being churned in order to drink.

2) butter as in "churning" or "whipping" as a way of describing the beating of their wings. Possible evidence for this comes from the german name for these stupid bugs which is something like ACHSHIENDELSFROTTEN or something... which means "beating" flying.

# ? Jun 22, 2016 08:53

H.H: Oct 24, 2006; August is the Cruelest Month

8 track betamax posted:

Some clown up above in the thread asked about "butteflys" and if I remember right.... there are two theories:

1) butter comes from the fact that butterflys would hover around and land on milk and butter and whatever while it was being churned in order to drink.

2) butter as in "churning" or "whipping" as a way of describing the beating of their wings. Possible evidence for this comes from the german name for these stupid bugs which is something like ACHSHIENDELSFROTTEN or something... which means "beating" flying.

these are both folk etymologies (a nice expression meaning "wrong"). my explanation a few posts up is unironically the actual academically accepted theory.

# ? Jun 22, 2016 08:57

a star war betamax: Sep 17, 2011; by Lowtax; Gary’s Answer

Simstim posted:

anus comes from the latin word "ring"

I take this to mean ancient people liked to stick their fingers in their asses

It is cool because the latin word there is preserved in at least spanish and french that I know of. "El senor de los anillos" (the lord, of the rings) and "Le Segneur des anneaus" (the lord of the rings) to put it in terms your average goon would understand. French also has a another word for ring that seems more common: "Bague" which I don't like as much because it sounds too course.

French also preserves the latin anus word in their word "anus" which means "anus" as in the adage "c'est quand le vent souffle q'on voi dans l'anus de poule"

# ? Jun 22, 2016 09:00

Mr. Smile Face Hat: Sep 15, 2003; Praise be to China's Covid-Zero Policy

Simstim posted:

anus comes from the latin word "ring"

I take this to mean ancient people liked to stick their fingers in their asses

So why then does Uranus not have a ring, but Saturn does?

What is the meaning of "it" in the sentence "What time is it"? Also, what word is "is" based on?

# ? Jun 22, 2016 09:42

chaosbreather: Dec 9, 2001; Wry and wise,
but also very sexual.

Yeah, now this thread is cooking!

flavor posted:

So why then does Uranus not have a ring, but Saturn does?

Both Uranus and Saturn have rings. Uranus' is weird, they go perpendicular to the ecliptic. This makes many astronomers think that something pretty loving insane happened way back when that knocked it over.

# ? Jun 22, 2016 09:55

thathonkey: Jul 17, 2012

flavor posted:

So why then does Uranus not have a ring, but Saturn does?

What is the meaning of "it" in the sentence "What time is it"? Also, what word is "is" based on?

It refers to the present time on that sentence. "What time is the present time?"

Is is a complicated one but iirc it is based on latin est basically the past of to be

edit: i meant present not past sry

thathonkey fucked around with this message at 10:04 on Jun 22, 2016

# ? Jun 22, 2016 09:57

H.H: Oct 24, 2006; August is the Cruelest Month

flavor posted:

So why then does Uranus not have a ring, but Saturn does?

What is the meaning of "it" in the sentence "What time is it"? Also, what word is "is" based on?

it in this context is a grammatical construct with no semantic value, similarly to the to be verb in English.
In other languages, you can just ask "what time?"

is comes from the same proto-indo-european root as the latin est. In some indo-european languages the same cognate is not used as a verb but as a type of pronoun, similar to that in English.

# ? Jun 22, 2016 10:02

a star war betamax: Sep 17, 2011; by Lowtax; Gary’s Answer

Two of my personal favorite ETYMOLOGICAL MYSTERIES:

Okay. :siren:

Barbecue

# ? Jun 22, 2016 10:13

thathonkey: Jul 17, 2012

Bbq isnt very interesting it just came from barbacoa

Would like to hear more about "ok/okay" though

# ? Jun 22, 2016 10:17

a star war betamax: Sep 17, 2011; by Lowtax; Gary’s Answer

Also what do you eggheads think about the pidgen theory of english....or whatever it's called. It's the idea that english developed as a pidgen trade language mixing middle english with french or something like that. Seems like word on the street is such that english shows evidence of being a pidgen in the past what because of certain "features" it used to of had.. but have gone the way of the dodo since. Stuff like noun case (only preserved in our pronouns like a retarded little brother locked up in the basement) And overlaying of latin grammer structures into english. Like the havoir helping verb??? I dunno it's been a while since I listened to the podcast on this subject.

Oh and I guess how english makes most of it's tense and aspect changes through a wacky humancentipede-style string of auxiliary verbs.

# ? Jun 22, 2016 10:19

a star war betamax: Sep 17, 2011; by Lowtax; Gary’s Answer

thathonkey posted:

Bbq isnt very interesting it just came from barbacoa

Would like to hear more about "ok/okay" though

Pretty sure barbacoa came from the english word though...

# ? Jun 22, 2016 10:20

a star war betamax: Sep 17, 2011; by Lowtax; Gary’s Answer

8 track betamax posted:

Pretty sure barbacoa came from the english word though...

Oh no I guess you're right, the word started out as something the natives said to each other out in the caribbian and then got slung into portegous and spanish and so on....and like most things in mexico... it ended up crossing the river and cruzando al otro lado and ended up in the home of the free and the brave as our favorite food.

So the mystery is what indeginous language did it come from and the answer is who knows?

Or I guess the TRUE mystery is why those swamp slugs up in the british isles call grilling frozen hamburger patties "BBQ" :eyepop:

# ? Jun 22, 2016 10:23

thathonkey: Jul 17, 2012

Haitian to be exact apparently referred to a framework of sticks used as both a bed for sleeping and for curing meats. Really makes you think doesnt it ??

# ? Jun 22, 2016 10:29

thathonkey: Jul 17, 2012

i will ALWAYS and i mean ALWAYS take the time to pause and briefly LOL (laugh out loud) at the british concept of bbq though

# ? Jun 22, 2016 10:31

thathonkey: Jul 17, 2012

i like to think that mankind will someday unite around making fun of the brits bbq

# ? Jun 22, 2016 10:32

a star war betamax: Sep 17, 2011; by Lowtax; Gary’s Answer

Yeah it's really funny..but also kind of sad in a tragic way. It'd be like if somebody lived their whole life thinking "having sex" meant "having an embarrassing argument with your girlfriend in a kmart"

# ? Jun 22, 2016 10:34

Ratios and Tendency: Apr 23, 2010; MURALI

8 track betamax posted:

Two of my personal favorite ETYMOLOGICAL MYSTERIES:

Okay.

quote:

Origin

Mid 19th century (originally US): probably an abbreviation of orl korrect, humorous form of all correct, popularized as a slogan during President Van Buren's re-election campaign of 1840 in the US; his nickname Old Kinderhook (derived from his birthplace) provided the initials.

# ? Jun 22, 2016 11:27

thathonkey: Jul 17, 2012

wow how the gently caress is "ok" that recent? what the hell did people say before that

# ? Jun 22, 2016 11:29

a star war betamax: Sep 17, 2011; by Lowtax; Gary’s Answer

Nope, that origin is probs bogus. Anytime you find an explanation saying something was an acronym for something else (example: "yo bros did you know gently caress was an acronym from old time dark ages it meant Fornication Under Consent of the King...totally sick eh bro????? bros???) its basically wrong.

Unless it happened post WWII because that's when we started going bananas for acronyms.

# ? Jun 22, 2016 11:41

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# ? Apr 23, 2024 09:13

social vegan: Nov 7, 2014

how about queerbo

# ? Jun 22, 2016 11:45

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