Bunkum

Bunkum- empty talk

Politicians and empty talk go hand in hand. Any surprises then that the word bunkum has its origin in the world of politics? As the story goes, Felix Walker a Congressman from Buncombe County, North Carolina, US around 1820 gave the dullest of the speeches ever to the members of the 16th Congress. Despite people walking out on him, he continued, for his constituents expected him to make a speech, and so he was "obliged to speak for Buncombe" (as told by him later). Ever since buncombe which was later spelled as bunkum (also shortened to bunk sometimes) came to mean claptrap nonsense.

Sources: www.answers.com

Serendipity

Since I have been away for so long, I thought I should make my comeback with a charming word and there's nothing more charming than serendipity. I think the credit of popularising this word should rest with the movie, which is how I too became aware of its existence. If started eulogising about the movie, then the origin would take a back backseat so all I'm going to say is that its ridiculously romantic and lovely.I'm not spoiling the story for anyone who has not seen it by recounting the story.

Serendipity is described as the effect of discovering something fortunate while looking for something else.

The credit for coining it goes to Horace Walpole who used it in a letter to his friend Horace Mann. He claimed to draw inspiration from a Persian fairy tale. His exacts word are as follows

"It was once when I read a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of: for instance, one of them discovered that a mule blind of the right eye had travelled the same road lately, because the grass was eaten only on the left side, where it was worse than on the right—now do you understand serendipity? One of the most remarkable instances of this accidental sagacity (for you must observe that no discovery of a thing you are looking for, comes under this description) was of my Lord Shaftsbury, who happening to dine at Lord Chancellor Clarendon's, found out the marriage of the Duke of York and Mrs. Hyde, by the respect with which her mother treated her at table."

Trivia:

The Three Princes of Serendip is an old Persian fairy tale about three men who were on a mission but they always found something that was irrelevant but needed in reality. They discovered things by good fortune and sagacity.

Serendip is the Persian name for Sri Lanka. Which makes the word much closer to home.

Sources:wikipedia

Image: A scene from the movie Serendipity

Sandwich

I'm a foodie wannabe. Unfortunately my knowledge and skills in the kitchen aren’t on par with my love of food. And that explains why I pour out my love for food on Semantica (Remember the posts on croissant and cappuccino? )

Sandwich was long invented before John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (located in south east England), an 18th century English aristocrat, lent his title to it. The guy was known to be an obsessive gambler and to avoid leaving the gambling table to take supper, he favored this portable type of food. It allowed Lord Sandwich to continue playing cards, while eating without getting his cards sticky from eating meat with his bare hands.

Trivia: Be ready for some chuckles!! To the south of Sandwich is another little town called Ham. So the road leading to the towns has sign posts reading:

Ham
Sandwich

A sign that gets stolen every now and then.

And if that did not raise a chuckle, then try this, there's yet another town called Deal nearby, so there are places where road signs read.....(you guessed it!!!)
Ham
Sandwich
Deal

Sources: http://www.answers.com/ , http://en.wikipedia.org
Image: Google Images

Jamboree

First, my sincere apologies for not being regular on Semantica for more than a month. Starting with a word which everybody knows and nothing interesting in its origin too. Sorry about that.

Meaning - a large assembly of boy scouts or a large festive gathering.

Origin - The pic shown on right hand side is none other than Robert Baden Powell. He was the founder of boy scouts during 1880-90s. The word Jambo means "Hello" in swahili and Swahili is the language spoken in Kenya and other countries of Africa. Baden Powell was living in Kenya and where he started scouting and teaching to soldiers. So teach them , he used to gather all of them and used to start with word "Jamboree".

Just for more information Anil Kumble is known as JUMBO in Indian Cricket Team.

Sources - Image - google image and www.phrases.org.uk

Maverick

Maverick- One that refuses to abide by the dictates of or resists adherence to a group; a dissenter

Remember the eccentric Thomas Hobson of "Hobson's choice" fame. Looks like he's got company. In South Texas, lived a lawyer Samuel Augustus Maverick in the mid-nineteenth century (1803-1870) who took up cattle ranching not because he was a rancher himself but 'coz a client gave him 400 hundred heads of cattle in lieu of cash. In Texas cattle grazed on the open range, without fences to keep one herd separate from another, and thus there was much opportunity for theft and disputes over ownership. To identify their cattle, ranchers branded them.

But Maverick due to reasons unknown (could be laziness or the cruelty of branding animals) would not brand his cattle and some stories say that he lost a few of his herd to his unscrupulous neighbors who would brand his cattle as their own while other claim that he was influential (being San Antonio's mayor) and hence was able instead to claim that any unbranded calf was his.

Thus, the name maverick started to be applied to all cattle without brands and writers who heard the story decided to take it beyond cattle. What better word to use for a politician who was "unbranded" by a party label, not "owned" by special interests? In the same vein, maverick began to be used for artists who were independent in their thinking and later for anyone who can be called a dissenter.

Did you know: Dude has its origin in the Wild West too??

Source: The Merriam Webster Book of Word Histories, www.answers.com
Pic: http://www.pilgrimjohnhowlandsociety.org/

Rickety

Rickety - Likely to break or fall apart; shaky.

Funny, but it never occurred to me earlier: the word comes from rickets. Remember the deficiency disease we learned about in our childhood science textbooks, when bones do not harden and are deformed due to lack of vitamin D.

Cappuccino

Coffee is my comfort drink. I'm not addicted to it but I love the whole ritual surrounding coffee. Wanna partake in my morning ritual? Then read on :)

A cappuccino is espresso coffee mixed or topped with steamed milk or cream. Espresso itself is an Italian word meaning "pressed out" and called so as it's made in a coffee making machine (first invented in Italy in the beginning of 20th century) that presses water through fine ground coffee.

Cappuccino on the other hand had nothing to do with coffee originally. It comes from the Italian word Cappuchio that means "little hood" . The colour of the coffee reminded Italians of the brown robes of one of the Roman Catholic orders of monks, namely the Capuchins. The Capuchin order of friars was established in 1525 and they wore brown silken robes with pointed hoods.

Trivia: The name of this pious order was later used as the name (first recorded in English in 1785) for a type of monkey often having a hood like tuft of hair on the head. So we also have a monkey, a native of Central and South America, that's called Capuchin.

Sources: http://www.answers.com , http://www.billcasselman.com/
Pic: http://www.capuchinfriars.org.au/

Qi

Guest Post by Radha

The first time I came across the word 'Qi' was when a friend used it in Scrabble (I challenged it and was heartbroken to find that the English dictionary does actually list this word). I found the word peculiar & interesting for many reasons; the main one being that for a tiny word, it contains such a lot of depth.

'Qi' is the center of Chinese philosophy & traditional medical science, its literal meaning is 'air' or 'breath'; but in Chinese philosophy it represents what in English could be called 'life force'. Its close cousin would be the term 'prana' used in Hindu philosophy.

The etymology of the word is quite simple really: 'Qi' is a mandarin character which comprises of three wavy lines. The written character looks like a person's breath (if one could see it). Hence its use in this context.

Muscle

This one's gonna cast a shadow on the might of muscle-men we know, not that a certain Sanjay Dutt would care with lots more on his platter to bother about than the ridicule on this blog, right now. My husband's never gonna forgive me for tarnishing the image of muscle-cars but I'll go ahead and let the world know that the word muscle comes from Latin "musculus" that means "little mouse" :) So called because the shape and movement of some muscles (notably biceps) were thought to resemble mice, their tendons playing the part of a mouse's tail.

Trivia: Mussels are also called so because of their resemblance to mice but have a different spelling from muscles for distinguishing reasons.

Sources: www.etymonline.com/
Pic: Google Images

Monthly Update - July '07

Dear Readers

I have been unabashedly derelict in my duties as Semantica's administrator. Missed the last month update, needless to say missed most of the posts and associated brouhaha.

July was Moi all the way. Although 'Mad as a hatter', 'Eavesdrop' can be attributed to author specific traits, 'Tawdry' and 'OK' were more in line with Semantica guidelines. Nevertheless, kudos to Moi for all the efforts. And hopefully the others (who I presume are battling that feeling a reticulated python gets after swallowing a well fed antelope on a Sunday afternoon) will contribute some posts in August.

Best Regards

Tawdry

Tawdry - Gaudy and cheap in nature or appearance

The word now pretty uncommon has a charming story to go with its origin. In the 7th century, Etheldreda, the queen of Northumbria, decided to renounce her husband and her royal position for the veil of a nun. She died of a throat tumor in 679. She blamed this growth on her love of wearing necklaces in her youth and claimed that it was sent as a punishment. After Ethelreda's death, she became a patron saint and her name was simplified to St Audrey . She was paid tribute to every year on the 17th October when a fair would be held in her name. In honour of Saint Audrey - and her fatal fondness for necklaces - ribbon and lace were sold at this fair to adorn the ladies' necks. These were called 'St Audrey's lace' which by the 17th century had become altered to 'tawdry lace' . Eventually tawdry came to be applied to all the cheap knickknacks, jewelery, and toys sold at the fair.

Sources: The Merriam-Webster Book of Word Histories
Pic: www.intimelyfashion.com

Eavesdrop

Eavesdrop- To listen secretly to the private conversation of others.

An eave is the edge of a roof which usually projects beyond the side of the building to offer weather protection. In Old English, eavesdrop (or eavesdrip) referred to the ground of the house on which water falls from the eaves. By the 15th century, the word eavesdropper came to mean someone who stood within the eavesdrop of a house to overhear what is going on inside. This lead to the verb eavesdrop and is first recorded in the seventeenth century.

Sources: The Merriam-Webster Book of Word Histories, www.answers.com
Pic: Painting by William Powell Frith.

OK

OK, here goes the explanation. (If you've just arrived, please refer to the previous post)

Clue1: One of the unlikely though interesting origins of OK is in the grading of woods used for furniture. The best oak goes as "Oak A" :)

Clue2: This is supposedly the most likely of the origins. Around 1830's Bostonian newspapers were full of these fashionable abbreviations (like R.T.B.S = Remains To Be Seen) that became increasingly popular with the readers. The abbreviation craze went so far as to produce abbreviations of intentional misspellings. No Go became K.G. (Know Go) and All Correct became O.K. (Oll Korrect), the joke being that neither the O nor the K was correct. Most of these abbrevaitions are believed to have gained currency in those times but only O.K. spread and survived.

Clue3: In 1840, OK was a slogan of the Democratic Party for President Martin Van Buren's reelection campaign. Named after his birthplace, Old Kinderhook, New York. "O.K. clubs" supporting him were established throughout the country. Old Kinderhook lost, but O.K. won a permanent place in American English.

Clue4: Haitian port called "Aux Cayes" (pronounced as aw-kay) . French fishermen might sometimes have used the phrase "au quai", literally "to the quay", to mean that a fishing trip was successful (or went okay)

Abhishek's comment led to further research and another theory that in World War II the term "zero killed" was used when a unit suffered no casualties in combat, and that this was then shortened to 0K. This proposed etymology is grossly anachronistic, since by this time the term had been widely used for a full century. The same theory has also been applied to the Civil War, but this is also anachronistic.

Hope I got it Waaw-kay!!! :)

Sources: The Merriam-Webster Book of Word Histories, www.answers.com
Pic : http://www.wpclipart.com/

Ek Sawal

Connect:

1. The grading of woods used in furniture;
2. The abbreviations craze of the US in the 1830’s which eventually lead to some intentional misspellings;
3. Martin Van Buren’s failed re-election in 1940;
4. A Haitian port famous for its rum.

Background: This question was asked in Chakravyuh 2003 organized by yours truly and my illustrious pardner. One of the all time classics of etymology. (Didnt impress the hard core quiz studds around though, who cracked it by the time I had read the point 2!). Googling should throw up the answer. Drop in your search results, views on each of the four points above in the comments

Disclaimer: The author of this post claims intellectual property right to the above question. It has not been sourced from any quiz groups around.

Mad as a hatter

Mad as a hatter - Crazy, demented

Reminds you of Alice's companion in her wonderland? I used to think the expression was Lewis Carroll's gift to the language just as jabberwocky is. Turns out the phrase was popular well before Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" was published. "Mad hatter syndrome" was actually a medical affliction in Carroll's times.In the mid-1800s, hat makers used hot solutions of mercuric nitrate to shape wool felt hats and prolonged exposure to mercury vapors caused severe neurological damage ranging from uncontrollable muscular twitching (known as "hatter's shakes") to dementia. Hatters working in poorly ventilated workshops would breathe in (elemental) mercury vapor and in advanced cases, developed hallucinations and other psychotic symptoms.

Source: http://www.word-detective.com
Pic : www.rjohnwright.com

Beyond the pale

Beyond the pale - Unacceptable, Outside the bounds of morality, good behavior or judgment

Ironic (perhaps not), but I’m still to see a society which is not segregated, subtly or emphatically so. When will equal be equal enough, is anyone’s guess. George Orwell had a reason when he wrote,"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". Brings me to the phrase that has its roots in the same grounds as Ghetto .

"Pale" here refers to the archaic sense of the word when it meant wooden strips that are set in series to form a fence. An area enclosed by them was also referred to as pale. So, to be 'beyond the pale' was to be outside the area that's marked as "territory" or "home". Catherine II created a 'Pale of Settlement' in Russia in 1791. This was a western border region of the country in which Jews were allowed to live. The motivation behind this was to restrict trade between Russian Jews and native Russians. Some Jews were allowed to live, as a concession, beyond the pale. More can be read here .

Pales were enforced in various other European countries for similar political reasons, notably in Ireland (the Pale of Dublin) : that part of the country over which England had direct jurisdiction.

The first printed reference comes from 1657 in John Harington's poem "The History of Polindor and Flostella"

Sources: http://www.phrases.org.uk/, www.answers.com

Pic: Map of "The Pale of Settlement" from http://www.friends-partners.org

(Don't) Make like a Tree

This one started off as an expression that pissed me off- which, if you do not exist solely on sheets of cellulose and/or silicon, is not a very wholesome thing to do. But I digress.

The expression really means 'to leave' and usually, pretty quickly. (I know! I felt cheated too. How can you make like a tree and do something that a tree never does: to wit, leave?) A bit of googling, done a long time ago (which is why I cannot remember my sources) revealed that the expression was the result of a (rather sorry, in my opinion) pun on the phenomenon of leaving in deciduous trees, whereby they shed their leaves in "fall" (which is called so because leaves fall off trees in that season).

Therefore, you can make like a tree and leave. Though I still think it is kind of insensitive, given that trees stay 'rooted' to one place all the time. Wait till Arundhati Roy figures that one out...

Sources: Google

Die Hard

Being die hard fan of "Bruce Willis", there couldn't be a better date to release this word on Semantica. "Live free or die hard" , fourth installment of Die hard series is releasing tomorrow in US. So better watch it or die hard ;-).

Meaning - A person who holds stubbornly to a minority view, in defiance of the circumstances.

Being used as a film title starring Bruce Willis in 1988, the term "Die hard" first appeared in 1784 edition of the Gentleman's Magazine as a Tyburn phrase. Tyburn was the public hangings place until the year before that magazine was published. It clarifies the meaning of "die hard" was to die reluctantly,resisting to the end. In those days, they were not using "drop" method of hanging .Instead of that, the people were hanged to their legs so that they died quickly. How pity!!.

The term was widely used in 19th century during 1811 , in Peninsula war.William Inglis , the commander of the British 57th regiment of foot ordered all soldiers to "die hard".The regiment later was known as "The d".

In 20th century, the term took new meaning in political arena. It was used to describe a member of political faction who were prepared to "die in the last ditch" in their resistance to the home rule bill in 1912. Conservative party , who followed the leadership of Marquess of Salisbury , called themselves as "The die-hards" in 1922.

Sources:http://www.phrases.org.uk/
Image - Google Image

Shanghai

Shanghai - (verb) - To induce or compel (someone) to do something, especially by fraud or force

Usage: We were shanghaied into buying worthless securities.

Was reading a list of words derived from toponyms and there are tons of them: Bikini, Denim, Limerick, Blarney........when the word struck from a distant memory. I remember writing to a friend, many moons ago, how I, a sworn vegetarian at that time, was shanghaied into eating chicken by my hostel-mates. Blogging was not a given thing in those days and I don't think I gave the word any thought betwixt that day and today.

Coming to the origin of the word, the word is (it can't be more obvious) named after China's largest city and one of the most important ports in the world. The story goes that in the the 19th century, it was difficult for shippers in the West Coast of United States to find sufficient crews to man the ships set for long voyages, especially the ones to China. Shippers would get men to drug others from the dock area and put them into ships in the harbor. At first when men were found missing, the word would go round that "he's sailing to Shanghai." Later, the phrase was reduced to the verb as it is known today.

Trivia: The West Coast state of Oregon has underground tunnels called Shanghai Tunnels that run underneath Chinatown to the downtown section of Portland, Oregon. The tunnels were built to move goods. Around the end of the 19th century they were used to kidnap or "shanghai" unsuspecting laborers and sell them as slaves to waiting ships at the waterfront. Hence the name for the tunnels.

Source: http://www.answers.com/ , www.yourdictionary.com

Yellow Journalism

Yellow Journalism - Journalism that exploits, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers.

Sounds familiar??

Blame it on my jaunt to Key West that's only 90 miles away from Cuba, but suddenly I am fascinated to dig more on Spanish-American War of 1898. And luckily for moi, etymology and history lessons go hand-in-hand :)

In 1890's Jospeh Pulitzer (of Pulitzer Prize fame) owned New York World and his major rival was New York Journal's owner William Randolph Hearst. The World had a popular comic strip running called "Hogan's Alley" which featured a yellow-dressed character named the "the yellow kid." William Randolph Hearst copied Pulitzer's sensationalist style and even hired "Hogan's Alley" artist R.F. Outcault away from the World. In response, Pulitzer commissioned another cartoonist to create a second yellow kid. Soon, the sensationalist press of the 1890s became a competition between the "yellow kids," and the journalistic style was coined "yellow journalism."

The question arises, what's it's connection with Cuba and Spanish-American War of 1898?

The story goes that, William Randolph Hearst understood that a war with Cuba would not only sell his papers, but also move him into a position of national prominence. Cuba was a colony of Spain and was fighting a guerrilla war with Spain to achieve independence. From Cuba, Hearst's star reporters wrote stories designed to tug at the heartstrings of Americans. The message was simple: Cuba was helpless and the U.S. must intervene. Sounds familiar again????

Trivia: The trivia here is what they call yellow journalism's "finest" moment.At 9:40pm on February 15, 1898, the American battleship Maine exploded in Havana Harbor, killing 268 men. Hearst, especially, seized on this tragedy to accuse Spain of sinking the ship, without any proof whatsoever.(Recent research suggests it may have been an accident.) War ensued, and, some say, this was the first press-driven war.

Sources : www.answers.com, http://www.pbs.org/crucible/frames/_journalism.html

Pic : http://www.answers.com/