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Results tagged with etymology
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user 9001
Questions about tracing out and describing the elements of an individual word, as well as the historical changes in form and sense which that word has experienced over its history. Please use the 'phrase-origin' tag for phrase/expression origins.
9
votes
Accepted
How did the term "X's finest" come to mean the police force of a city X?
In the case of "New York's Finest," Barry [Popik] has traced the term back to
the 1870s, where it apparently first emerged in the form "the finest
police force in the world," a phrase associate …
- 68.1k
8
votes
Accepted
Why was the Bletchley bombe so called?
There are two different machines here, the British bombe and the Polish bomba.
According to the caption of this photo of Bletchley Bombe Wiring:
The name Bombe arises from the relentless ticking soun …
- 68.1k
3
votes
How long has "looney" (meaning "lunatic") been in use?
Here's some references older than EtymOnline's 1853. I think they're are used as an abbreviation of lunatic.
The cabinet of instruction,literature,and amusement: Volume 1, 1829:
A country looney, …
- 68.1k
0
votes
What's the deal with wherewithal?
From the Online Etymology Dictionary:
wherewithal (adv.)
"means by which," 1530s, from where + withal. The
noun is first recorded 1809. …
- 68.1k
5
votes
Origin of "scumbag"
I found an earlier reference for scum-bag as a straining bag used when refining sugar, described in 1819's The Cyclopædia;: or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature, Volume 34 by Abr …
- 68.1k
7
votes
Accepted
What is indeed the "first known use"?
Because the fist known use of a word is exactly that: the first known use. If and when they find an antecedent, they will usually update the dictionary entry.
There's no way for them to search every …
- 68.1k
4
votes
What is the origin of the term "back to back", meaning to follow one after the other?
Back-to-front suggests a single item that is the wrong way around or has been reversed, like a shirt with the buttons at the back, or holding a map up the wrong way.
Back-to-back suggests two things …
- 68.1k
2
votes
Coinage of phrase "history sniffing"
The oldest description of the attack I have been able to find was in 2002, but the oldest use of the phrase "history sniffing" I have been able to find was in 2008.
That 2008 blogpost actually us …
- 68.1k
3
votes
Etymology for the phrase "butterflies in stomach"
As Barry answered, the OED gives 1944 for first plural use and 1955 for the current meaning. I've found an antedating of the plural with our present day meaning from 1943.
The February 1943 Boys' Lif …
- 68.1k
2
votes
Accepted
What is the origin of the word "latency"?
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary:
1630s, "condition of being concealed,"
from latent + -cy. …
- 68.1k
1
vote
What is the origin of the expression "to prick one's ears up"?
A precedent of prick-eared can be found in the late Middle English prykeryd, c.1420.
Sherman M. Kuhn's Middle English Dictionary:
prik-ēred adj. Also prike-erid [From prik(e & ēred.] Having erec …
- 68.1k
4
votes
Accepted
Where does the word "shibby" come from?
WWW
Skipping back over to the world wide web, @@roñ'§ p@gê© has a definition and etymology of shibby, which I'll quote in full:
Shibby
A positive modern multipurpose slang word used increasingly … Etymology
Introduced in the 2001 movie entitled "DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR", the word "shibby" is used numerous times as slang replacement for adjectives, verbs, nouns, proper names... …
- 68.1k
2
votes
What is the origin of 'yes siree!'?
The OED says of "yes siree":
Etymology: < yes adv. + siree, variant of sorry n.2
With an earliest quotation from 1846:
‘Will you take this man to be your lawful husband?’ … It says "no siree" came first:
Etymology: < no adv.2 + siree, variant of sorry n.2 Compare slightly later yes siree int. …
- 68.1k
5
votes
Accepted
Etymology of "chookas"
The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2007) says:
chookas! used for wishing an actor good luck. Actors are, by tradition, superstitious , and to actually wish a …
- 68.1k
6
votes
gopher wood / coffer
Probably not, according to Etymonline:
The
gopherwood tree of the Bible (used by Noah to
make the ark, Gen. vi:14) is ... from
Heb. gofer, perhaps meaning the cypress.
And:
coffer (n. …
- 68.1k