Word origins Flashcards
The term ‘Nosey Parker’ derives from…
Matthew Parker was Archbishop of Canterbury 1559-1575
The word “curfew” comes from
the Old French ‘cover fire’; a rule established by William the Conqueror who outlawed fires after 8pm.
Meander comes from the
menderes river which winds through Turkey.
Chair of a meeting was named because
he was important enough to get one. Most had benches (which is where we get banquet from)
Room and board
Dining table used to a board that rested on the knees
Friday
Frig, Woden’s wife
Wednesday
Woden
Melancholic
Greek for “melas khole”, meaning black bile. One of Galen’s 4 personality types along with (Phlegmatic, Choleric and Sanguine).
Nave
comes from navis, Latin for ship
Quarantine comes from ___
40 days and nights; comes from an Italian variant (seventeenth-century Venetian) of ‘quaranta giorni’, meaning forty days, the period that all ships were required to be isolated before passengers and crew could go ashore during the Black Death plague epidemic.
Ketchup comes from ___
Chinese word for fish brine
Chop Suey
Means odds and ends
Turn up for the books
Stroke of luck for bookmakers. When an unbacked horse wins.
“Pooling” money/resources
Poule is french for chicken. Money in a pot, first to hit the chicken wins.
Upshot
Upshot is the shot that decides an archery contest (up = end, as in “time is up”)
Hot dogs
Americans thought sausages made from dog meat, hence hot dogs
Toxic comes from ___
Toxic comes from Greek word for archery because arrows used to be dipped in poison