Household Items

A few will be aware I have been known to speak on various subjects over the years. Fundamentally these all revolve around my favourite subject of etymology. Have always enjoyed bringing this fascinating subject to others. It’s not for me to say whether the audiences have, although many have asked me to return.

Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with Household Items. Pots and pans, cutlery, white goods, and even those most basic items such as the table, the chair and the bed - at some point in time these must have been named and why were these chosen? A fascinatingly different look at our history through both language and everyday items. Some things will never be seen in the same light again. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

And for a taster let’s take a look at a few examples beginning with toaster: from ‘toast’, first used to refer to the browning of bread in the early 15th century, this came from the Old French toster meaning ‘to grill, roast, burn’ and, in turn, comes from the Latin torrere ‘to parch’ which is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ters ‘to dry’. Interestingly this is also the origin of ‘terrain’, which today refers to a broad expanse of ground but originally meant ‘dry ground’ and thus the phrase ‘desert terrain’ or ‘waterless terrain’ is quite superfluous.

Knife: comes from Proto-Germanic knibaz also meaning ‘knife’. Note the pronunciation with a silent ‘k’ is only since 1750 – this was not deliberate, it is simply quite difficult to continually say ker-nife.

Toilet: now you might be a little surprised to find the earliest use in English, seen from 1530s, came from Middle French toilette meaning ‘a cloth, bag for clothes’. This shares an origin with ‘toil’, itself a Middle French origin where toile meant ‘hunting net, cloth, web’ and traced to Proto-Indo-European teks ‘to weave’. So how did ‘cloth’ become ‘karzee’? The answer, as with all changes, is by association – the cloth adorned the dresser, the dresser was in a small room or closet, and eventually to the inevitable lavatory attached or included. Now you’re going to ask about ‘lavatory’, which comes from the same root as ‘lave’ and referred to a ‘place for washing’ – and thus began as a euphemism for ‘toilet’.

If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.

Measurements

A few will be aware I have been known to speak on various subjects over the years. Fundamentally these all revolve around my favourite subject of etymology. Have always enjoyed bringing this fascinating subject to others. It’s not for me to say whether the audiences have, although many have asked me to return.

Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with Measurements. Be it imperial inches or metric millimetres, pints or litres, pounds and kilos, each has its own origins. Whilst many of the metric terms are reasonably easy to see, those old imperial measurements have a story to tell. Pecks, bushels, feet, yards, acres, stones, quarts, and many others you have forgotten. Learn how they developed, why they were named, and what they were used for. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

For many the metric measurements will be self-explanatory (if they’re not, then you’ll have to book me to find out more) and for me the origins of the imperial measurements is far more interesting. Here’s a taster…

Yard – a word derived from the Saxon or Old English for a straight branch. When the tree was pollarded to produce straight poles – these used to produce walls, fences, gates, etc., after woven with pliable twigs and then covered by the wattle and daub method – the poles would grow straight for about three feet. Not always, of course, this measurement is a guide rather than an actual measurement. This comes from Old English yeard ‘a straight pole’.

Bushel, a measure of volume for dry goods, came to English from Old French. Of much more interest is where the French got the term, for it is derived from Gaulish bosta 'palm of the hand', a term still seen in the Irish bass and Breton boz 'hollow of the hand'.

And week is thought to be related to the Old Norse vika, which had the original meaning of 'a turning'. Thus as 'month' is from 'moon', perhaps the four distinct phases of the moon are referred to as 'changes' or 'weeks'.

If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.

Classic Toys

A few will be aware I have been known to speak on various subjects over the years. Fundamentally these all revolve around my favourite subject of etymology. Have always enjoyed bringing this fascinating subject to others. It’s not for me to say whether the audiences have, although many have asked me to return.

Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with Classic Toys. Lego, Ludo, Sindy and Barbie, just how and why were these classic toys and games so named? A look at why the marketing men of our childhood, and our children’s childhood, chose these often quite puzzling names. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

Scalextric is simply an abbreviation of ‘scale’ and ‘electrics’. Not only boys toys, for some 40 years ago I was beaten at this in a night club by none other than Anne Diamond. A couple of years ago I was on her radio show and, off the air, mentioned the evening which she actually remembered – although she didn’t remember me – anyway we did race.

Jenga is a Swahili word meaning ‘build’. (and yes, I do know this is Lego)

Sindy was made by Pedigree Dolls and Toys and first marketed in 1954 in direct opposition to Barbie. It was chosen from a street survey of little girls out of four names – sadly the other three are not known. However we do know the original spelling was Cindy, as the girl’s name is usually seen. This had to be changed because one cannot register a common name as a trademark. Ironically the popularity of the doll resulted in an increase in the number of young girls being named ‘Cindy’ but with the alternative spelling of ‘Sindy’.

If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.

Gunpowder Plot

A few will be aware I have been known to speak on various subjects over the years. Fundamentally these all revolve around my favourite subject of etymology. Have always enjoyed bringing this fascinating subject to others. It’s not for me to say whether the audiences have, although many have asked me to return.

Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these presentations, continuing with the Gunpowder Plot. While the story of November 5th is retold year after year, what happened to his co-conspirators? As they flew from London and headed north to the Midlands, what became of them, who did they meet, and where did they eventually meet their end? In the hour there are a number of narratives, hear of betrayal, endurance, desperation, ghosts, and utter foolishness. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

It is November 1605 and for the last three days Robert Catesby, Thomas Percy, Ambrose Rockwood, the Winter brothers and Kit and Jack Wright have managed to evade their pursuers. Lyttleton was a known sympathiser and so they headed there, seeking temporary sanctuary. Seventeenth century travel was hardly a leisurely journey on surfaced roads, this involved crossing miles of open country, woodland, marsh, fording streams and always evading population centres. The journey, along with November's inclement weather, had soaked through to their gunpowder, leaving them virtually unarmed should their pursuers, led by Robert Walsh, Sheriff of Worcester, overtake them. It may sound foolhardy in the extreme yet these were desperate men and, having reached Holbeche, they preceded to dry their gunpowder in front of an open fire. The inevitable explosion alerted the sheriff and his 200-strong body of men and they stormed the house. Inside chaos reigned, a couple of small fires were burning, smoke was filling the rooms, and several were injured including John Grant who had been blinded by the explosion.

As the two sides fought a confused battle Gideon Grove fled in panic. In truth the young groom was very unlikely to have been accused of anything and, had he stayed where he was, would have lived to tell the tale of the day the Gunpowder Plot conspirators were captured under his nose. However he feared for his safety and, quite understandably, he fled on horseback in the direction of Wombourne hotly pursued by the sheriff's men. Little more than half a mile into the chase the horse and his terrified young rider plunged into Himley Wood and almost instantly found themselves in a swamp and sinking fast. Closely behind were the sheriff's men, who dismounted and gathered around Gideon who called out and pleaded for their assistance. Their only response was a hail of musket balls which cut short the man's life.

If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.

Time

A few will be aware I have been known to speak on various subjects over the years. Fundamentally these all revolve around my favourite subject of etymology. Have always enjoyed bringing this fascinating subject to others. It’s not for me to say whether the audiences have, although many have asked me to return.

Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with Time. It is found woven into our language and yet why do we use multiples of twelve for various time periods? Why have we not produced a metric clock? Learn the fascinating answers to these and other questions and discover why punctuality and the humble timepieces of yesterday and today have created more than a few funny stories. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

Physicists will tell you time is relative – which basically means time is irrelevant other than to the immediate area. To see this we need to look at time on a universal scale. We hear of how this star and those galaxies are so many light years away, a light year is how far light travels in a year (fascinating, I hear you say.

But think of it. We see the Sun every day (well most days) but it is so far away we actually see it as it was 8 minutes ago, the nearest star is Proxima Centauri seen as it was four years ago (note they see us in 2022 and are thus still have no notion of Donald Trump’s second term). If either star vanished it would take 8 minutes (or four years depending on one’s relative position) for the lights to go out. Hence time is relative to the location of the individual.

And for the etymologist I must mention minute – and also minute (ie very small). These may be pronounced differently but the origins and indeed meanings are identical. A minute (sixty seconds) is a minute (small) part of an hour and comes from the Latin prima minuta ‘the first small part’

If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.

Fire

A few will be aware I have been known to speak on various subjects over the years. Fundamentally these all revolve around my favourite subject of etymology. Have always enjoyed bringing this fascinating subject to others. It’s not for me to say whether the audiences have, although many have asked me to return.

Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with Fire. Without it there would be no technology for it arguably forms the basis for every ensuing development beginning with cooking. Here for an hour listen to how fire, which must have been one of the earliest words ever coined, has apparently still to be tamed by mankind as a selection of narratives from yesterday and today show just how daft some people can be. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

Fire will have been one of our earliest technologies. Indeed without fire it could be argued that no other technology could have existed, for without fire no smelting or heating or any description and thus no metals or chemicals.

As an etymologist, I am aware the word ‘fire’ will have been one of the earliest coined. We know the English word came from Proto-Germanic fyr and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European. This ancient tongue, the origin of the vast majority of languages across Europe, the Middle East and India, actually had two words for ‘fire’ – paewr and egni (these giving us ‘power’ and ‘ignite’). Paewr was used to refer to fire as inanimate, ie as a substance, while egni refers to fire as an animate living force

If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.

Crime on the Canals

A few will be aware I have been known to speak on various subjects over the years. Fundamentally these all revolve around my favourite subject of etymology. Have always enjoyed bringing this fascinating subject to others. It’s not for me to say whether the audiences have, although many have asked me to return.

Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with Crime on the Canals. A look at over two centuries of murder, theft, criminal damage, health and safety, and even truancy. Until the coming of the railways these waterways were the main arterial routes in the country and, as such, proved a temptation to every rogue, rotter and ne'er-do-well. Not just the macabre here but also the mysterious the hapless and more than a little humour. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

Throughout our islands' history we find tales of thieves, smugglers, thugs and murderers. Books have been written retelling tales of bandits, footpads, highwaymen, et al, attacking the lone traveller, the horseman, the coachman, shipping line, locomotive engineer, lorry or van driver and even pilot. Yet for almost two centuries the majority of goods travelled on Britain's famed canal network. This also attracted felons of all kinds and yet these many tales had been ignored, until now.

Here all manner of crimes are covered. From murders to muggings, parental problems to pilfering, arson, assault, smugglers, counterfeiters and even road rage (albeit canal-style). But it is not all morbid and misery, humour also plays a significant part in these tales. Why would a hungry man steal the inedible? Follow the policeman on foot chasing down a thief on board the narrowboat. Discover what really does lie beneath the waters of the canal. Learn canal etiquette, the hardships, the kindness and the cruelty.

If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line andf if you want to buy the book, contact me or try Amazon where it is also available as an ebook.