Clothing

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 Clothing. Trousers or Dress, Blouse or Shirt, just where do these names come from? Never mind who created the style, who created the original and thus the name? Find out the answers to these and other questions, including why we have a pair of trousers when there is clearly only one garment, and take a tour from ancient attire to what the modern model is wearing. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

Pocket – etymologically you can actually hear this is a pock-ette, ie a small pock. Exactly what it means and, as a simplistic term, is very old. Can’t be traced earlier than Proto-Germanic (only about 4,000 years ago) puk means ‘bag’. Note the word ‘poke’ had the same meaning in Old English, hence a ‘pig in a poke’ means you should expect to find a porker in a bag but unlikely and therefore you won’t find what you expect in the bag. Using ‘poke’ to mean ‘nudge, jab, etc’., only dates from around 1750. Also, if I haven’t killed off all interest in pokes and pockets think about the rhyme beginning Lucy Locket lost her pocket – how do you lose a pocket, it’s stitched into the garment? Well not always, for most of history it was a separate item. Which is why women still carry bags and men have pockets in their clothes.

Girdle – since the 8th century, from a Germanic word meaning ‘to gird’ and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ghr-dh ‘to grasp’.

Breeches – seen since around 1200, this is an odd double plural. Here Old English brec meant ‘breeches’ before it was pluralised, for brec was already the plural form of broc meaning ‘garment for the legs and trunk’. Now originally the garment was one sided, thus when pluralised it referred to both legs which, with the upper part, crossed over and were tied together to form a single item but clearly plural. That the item was intended to be worn in two halves is likely the reason for it coming from Proto-Indo-European bhreg or ‘break’.

Apron – one of a number of words, adder and umpire are others, which began as ‘a napron’, and continued to be used until the 16th century, but through a process known as ‘faulty separation’ became ‘an apron’. Coming to English from Old French naperon ‘small table cloth’ and ultimately from the Latin mappa ‘napkin’ and further back still to ‘matting’.

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

A to Z of Words You Will Never Hear Again

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 A to Z of Words You Will Never Hear Again. With over a million words in the full version of the Oxford English Dictionary and more being added all the time, you would think there are many we never use or ever even hear. You would be right but I wonder if you know how right? Of those million words the average person uses perhaps 20,000 when writing and only about 5,000 in everyday speech. So what happened to the others? Well here are a selection and these are not even among the more obscure. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

Azygous - generally only used in an organic sense where the meaning is 'single, not existing in pairs'. It is taken from the Greek azugos meaning ‘unmarried’ and takes a ‘without’ and zygon ‘yoke’ ie that used to tether two draught animals together.

Adnyamathanhan, although we have no tips on how to bring this native language of southern Australia into general conversation.

C is for celeripedean, surely one of the easiest words in this list to use as it simply means ‘fleet of foot’. Parts of the body are always good to learn, but how many of you will have heard of the coracoid, while few will know it is a short projection from the shoulder blade which has no useful function today. To complete the threesome of easy-to-use words beginning with C, the easiest of all to fit in – at least for him. So when she asks “Does my ass look big in this?”, the reply should be “You are positively callipygian” which refers to ‘a person with a shapely ass”.

V is for verjuice, a less useful word than in times past as it describes the acidic juice of crab apples. Of far more use if verbivore, particularly for those reading this, as it means ‘someone who devours words’, and also vesthibitionism, describing a woman who delights in showing off her undergarments.

Z is for znees - a synonym for 'frost'. And despite it being known in several places there seems to be no clear etymology.

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

Parts of Speech

As a schoolboy I struggled to remember the names of parts of speech and which was what and why. After I left school and when I started writing I found it a simple task. I recently discussed this with someone and, as I did so, began wondering if an etymologist's view would have helped. Let's see:

Verb, always said to be a 'doing word', came to English from France where the word verbe was used in the sense of 'word' and also 'word of God'. This is derived from the Proto-Indo-European were meaning 'to speak', which has also given us Avestan urvata 'command'; Sanskrit vrata 'command, vow'; Greek rhetor 'public speaker'; Hittite weriga 'call, summon'; Lithuanian vardas 'name'; and both the Gothic and English words for 'word'.

Noun is another from French, where nom has long meant 'name'. Interestingly, Old English name was used to mean 'name'. All can be traced back to Latin nomen and Proto-Indo-European no-men both meaning 'name'.

Adjective, as I recall it said to be the 'describing word', it also comes from French, where adjectif came from Latin adjectivum, the latter meaning 'added' - in this sense added to the noun. Note from around 1851 'adjective' was used as a euphemism for the mild oath 'bloody'.

Preposition is from the Latin praepositionem 'a putting before, a prefixing', and a fairly accurate description of how a preposition is used.

Conjunction is from French, where conjonction not only meant 'union, joining' but was also used in the sense of 'sexual intercourse', as was the Latin root of coniunctionem.

Pronoun has the same etymology as 'noun' but with the addition of the prefix 'pro' to mean 'in place of'.

Adverb also shares an etymology, this time with 'verb', with the prefix 'ad' meaning 'to'.

Etymologies and Homonyms

Whilst I am always interested in learning new words, it is the never so much the meaning as the origins which intrigue me. Overhearing a conversation where one learned there were two meanings for one word made me think about the etymologies, the origins of the word. Were there two completely different origins and the identical spelling is pure coincidence or has the word simply been used to mean two different things?

I took a look at a number of examples and discovered the following:

Address: as a verb to mean 'to guide or direct', it came to English in the 14th century from Old French adrecier meaning 'straighten, set right' and from Latin addirectaire with the same meaning. When it comes to the noun and meaning 'dutiful or courteous approach' it is first seen in the 1530s and is derived from the verb. As a noun the sense of 'formal speech' dates from the 1750s and in referring to a place of residence is not known prior to 1888.

Arm: when referring to the upper limb the word can be traced back to Proto-Germanic armaz and Sanskrit irmah and has probably remained largely unchanged since the development of Proto-Indo-European. Note, however, the later change in languages such as Greek arthron 'a joint', Latin armus 'shoulder', and Armenian armukn 'elbow'. In the sense of 'a weapon' it can be traced to Proto-Indo-European ar 'fit, join' and eventually used as a verb.

Bank:as a financial institution dates from the 15th century and originated in the Italian banca meaning 'table', coming to English through Middle French banque with the same meaning. Whilst unrecorded this almost certainly came from the Germanic for a 'bench'. The second use is for the slope or a bank of earth. This certainly came to English from the Proto-Germanic bangkon meaning 'slope' and having a common origin with bankiz or 'shelf'. Hence the word, despite having two quite diverse uses, has the same source in the early European tongues but by coming to English through very different routes has two quite different meanings.

Bark: when referring to the sound made by a dog, is from Proto-Germanic berkan and simply imitative of the sound. When it comes to the noun describing the covering on the trunk of a tree, the term most likely came to English from Old Norse barkr and from Proto-Germanic barkuz and seem certain to be from the name of the birch tree.

Base: when used as a verb or noun to refer to a low point or foundation, it is surprisingly recent and not seen before the 14th century as a noun and in 1841 as a verb. Both are derived from Old French bas 'depth', Latin basis and Greek basis 'foundation, step'. Also used as an adjective meaning 'lowly', this has exactly the same origins.

Beam: in the modern sense would refer to rays of light and seen since the 15th century. (Smiles and radio transmissions being derived from the same source.) Also used today to refer to wooden beams used for construction purposes, this originally referred to the 'living tree' and ultimately comes from Proto-Indo-European bheue simply meaning 'to grow'.

Board: when referring to 'a plank' it can be traced to Proto-Germanic burdam and ultimately Proto-Indo-European bhrdh both with identical meaning and thus likely one of the earliest words coined. Interestingly there is also a Proto-Indo-European bherdh, almost the same word but used in the sense 'to cut', further evidence of this being among the first key words used by the people of the European continent. The word 'board' has a number of other meanings - including 'to get onto', 'food and lodging' - are both derived from the original 'plank' meaning. In the case of the 'food and lodging' meaning, this comes from the use of a 'board' as a table top, a board not fastened down but simply resting on the trestle below - one side polished and on which the food was served, the reverse scrubbed clean but left in its natural state on which the food was prepared.

Bolt: as a verb used, in a general sense, to mean 'move rapidly' in its various forms is seen from the 13th century and undoubtedly comes from the bolt or arrow used in a crossbow. The stout arrow known as a 'bolt' is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bheld or 'to knock or strike'.

Bow: when used to refer to the weapon used to fire an arrow comes from a Proto-Germanic bugon with the same meaning. The reference to a looped knot is seen from the middle of the 16th century and speaks of it being shaped like the weapon.

Box: the noun referring to the wooden container is probably from the Greek where pyxis refers to a box made from boxwood', while the Greek for 'the box tree' is pyxos. When it comes to 'box' being used in the sense of 'a blow' the origin is much later and completely unrelated. Traceable only as far as the 13th century, it can be found in the Middle Dutch boke and Middle High German buc, likely imitative of the sound.

Can: as the 1st and 3rd person singular of 'know', the origin of which is Proto-Indo-European gno, has its vowel change through influence from other early European languages such as Old Frisian kanna and Proto-Germanic kunnan.. In the sense of a 'container' the origins are uncertain but came to English from Proto-Germanic kanna and seen in Late Latin canna with the same meaning and early Latin canna 'reed pipe, boat'.

Cast: began as meaning 'to throw' and came from Old Norse kasta, every other usage came from here - including 'group of actors', 'an eye condition', 'turn', 'a shape from molten metal'.

Chip: in the sense 'piece of wood' can be traced to Proto-Indo-European keipo 'sharp post' and eventually came to mean 'small piece of wood' in Dutch kip and smiliar. The later use to mean 'that cut off' has clear connections and first seen in the early 15th century.

Clear: as a verb and as an adjective - be it to tidy, prove innocent, explain and a number of others - seen since the 13th century and new uses can be found up to the end of the 19th century. The many uses indicate several sources from other languages and there are a number of cases of influence from other languages where the meaning is somewhat different: Old French cler 'bright, shining', Latin clarus 'clear, loud', Italian chiaro and Spanish claro 'illustrious, famous, glorious'. All these can be traced to Proto-Indo-European kle meaning 'to shout'.

Club: used as a noun to mean 'a gathering, an association', is first known in a document from the early 17th century. In the late 13th century we first find the use as 'sizable stick used as a weapon', this from the Old Norse klubba meaning 'cudgel'. Note the suit in playing cards is unknown prior to the 17th century, earlier it being known by its Spanish or Italian names of basto and bastone respectively. By the 17th century the shape shown was that of the trefoil, Danish klover and Dutch klaver literally 'a club at cards' but clearly related to the English 'clover'.

Current: is first applied to the flow of electrical force in 1747, this obviously taken from the flow of water and derived from Old French corant meaning 'running, lively, eager, swift' and from Latin currere 'to run', itself from Proto-Indo-European kers 'to run'. It has been used to mean 'the present time' since around 1570 and should be seen as using 'running' in the same sense as when we speak of something currently being shown.

Yet Even More Words You Will Never Use

Some time ago I listed an A-Z of very unusual words. While flipping through dictionaries and the like on the hunt for word meanings and origins, too often I find myself distracted by words which may or may not be in official use but which would certainly be unknown to the vast majority. So the result is the following A to Z of words which would be of great help to any would-be Countdown contestant and a pain in the proverbial for guests on Call My Bluff.

A is for AZYGOUS - generally only used in an organic sense where the meaning is 'single, not existing in pairs'.

B is for BURHEL - and the name of a breed of wild sheep found in the Himalayas.

C is for CATAFALQUE - a delicious word which would probably be used more were it not for it being the name of a decorative wooden frame for a coffin, used primarily for those lying in state.

D is for DZO - the name given to a beast, the hybrid of a male yak and a cow.

E is for EUSTASY - something we may hear more often, it is the change of sea level due to melting ice caps, glaciers or techtonic movement.

F is for FURCULA - not a word you will have used to describe 'a forked organ or structure' but one you will certainly have seen as it is the correct description for the wishbone of a bird.

G is for GRALLATORIAL - is an adjective relating to long-legged wading birds.

H is for HOPPLE - the act of tying the legs of a quadruped together to prevent it going anywhere.

I is for INFUNDUBULAR - never used but often seen, it means 'funnel-shaped'.

J is for JOWAR - a variety of sorghum native to Asia.

K is for KNAG - the short remains of a dead branch.

L is for LORICATE - having bones or scales forming armour as a defence.

M is for MYRMIDON - either a hired ruffian or a lowly servant.

N is for NUCHAL - an adjective relating to the nape of the neck.

O is for ORTHOGONAL - simply means 'having right angles'.

P is for PUTLOG - a short horizontal timber projecting from a wall which allowed scaffolding boards to be used.

Q is for QUODLIBET - a medley of well-known tunes.

R is for RYOKAN - a traditional Japanese inn.

S is for SWIPPLE - the swinging of a flail.

T is for TYCHISM - the idea that chance is the controlling factor in the entire universe.

U is for UMBLES - the edible offal of deer.

V is for VELUTINOUS - covered with soft fine hairs.

W is for WIGHT - an archaic term for a person.

X is for XERIC - means 'very dry'.

Y is for YERKNOD - a donkey.

Z is for ZNEES - a synonym for 'frost'.

Accents and Dialects

An interesting question was put to me this week. The original reference was to the miners from Wales moving to the Midlands in order to find work in the coal fields of Staffordshire. As they would tend to congregate with others of their own culture, how many generations would it take for their Welsh accent to be replaced by the local Black Country tones?

Such is not really my area of expertise but I was reminded of two occasions when the voices did not match what was expected before the speakers opened their mouths. The first was at school when a couple of brothers joined our numbers having recently moved when the family needed to find work. Both brothers were of Indian parentage, each excellent scholars, and spoke with a very broad accent which made them difficult to understand – it was pure Glaswegian. The second instance came much later, when I visited an old friend and his family. They had moved to Leeds from Birmingham and while both parents were clearly Midlanders, their two sons sounded as if they had been raised by Amos Brearley from Emmerdale.

Another involved in the aforementioned conversation had had some experience of this. A young lady who had spent some time in Italy told how it was clearly our children who picked up the accents from their peers and not their parents.

This does show why successive generations speak virtually in a code and language all of their own. For example the baddie was obvious The Wizard of Oz when it was first seen on the big screen, but would today’s generation see the Wicked Witch of the West as the trendiest character in the story?

It did indicate how quickly accents and even use of words can change and shows how old written records, in my case particularly those of place names, can be influenced in the phonetic spelling by something which can never be a gradual change.

Pronunciation Problems

I came across an old photograph the other day. A family I lost touch with years ago. Oddly the first thing which came to mind about them was their mispronunciation of just one word. They thought the word ‘filthy’ was pronounced ‘thilthy’. Clearly this is similar to the archetypal Cockney in Ealing comedies where the eighth letter of the alphabet was dropped when it should be there but preceded every word which should begin with a vowel.

On the subject of the eighth letter, the same reason has led to the letter H being pronounced ‘haitch’ when the dictionary clearly states the word is ‘aitch’. Such a mispronunciation must have been a problem at some earlier time for it to have been included in the dictionary. Today it seems to be the most common word beginning with a vowel to be mispronounced as beginning with the ‘h’. Ironically while previous generations corrected their children for dropping their aitches, today nothing is done about adding ‘haitches’ to aitch – if you get my point.

Similarly nobody seems to correct the name of the second month. This is of course February and not Febuary, although at least the UK has not suffered the similar American problem of library instead of library – or should I say has not yet had that problem.

On the subject of our American cousins, we so often hear the word ‘supposedly’ said as ‘supposably’ in broadcasts it is now catching on in the UK, too.

While mentioning UK broadcasting, I must be eternally grateful to the BBC for giving Lorne Spicer the elbow from a daytime slot which I was subjected to on my weekly visit to a relative. No longer am I subjected to this woman making a mockery of the English language and constantly saying jew-le-ree instead of jewelry. I also hold her responsible for ‘collections’ losing a syllable and rarely heard as anything but ‘clections’ today.

However the gold medal will be awarded to newsreader Alistair Stewart OBE. Joining ITN in 1980, he has been the mainstay of ITV’s news broadcasts ever since. You would think this a man whose credentials show his knowledge of his native is tongue better than most. However on many occasions I have heard him speak of someone being charged or convicted of ‘burgle-ree’ instead of ‘burglary’.

I often find pronunciation a problem when it comes to place names. There is the argument as to whether it is Shrewsbury or Shrowsbury, although this is by no means the only one and when travelling around giving talks on the origins of place names have heard Fowey, Leominster, Knaresborough, Warwick, and many others mispronounced.

A professor once told me how no place name was mispronounced until the majority could read. Of course this was not entirely accurate but does point out it is invariably the spelling which is wrong.

I would welcome any suggestions for themes or subjects, or even specific words to examine the origins, meanings and etymologies. I’d be delighted to hear from you.

Little Known Body Parts

Perhaps that should be body parts with names one rarely hears?

This thought came to mind by way of a pub quiz when one of those standard trivia questions came out. The question was “What is the name of the groove between your nose and lips?” to which the answer is, of course, the ‘philtrum’. (Yes, of course I got it wrong.) However just in case someone asks similar questions in the future, I have put together the following selection.

The outside part of the ear is known as the ‘auricle’. That fleshy part which means we have two nostrils and not one is correctly called ‘columella nasi’. Up a bit higher and, unibrow wearers excepted, we find the ‘glabella’ between the eyebrows. Nearby is the point where the nose meets the forehead, or the ‘nasion’. David Bowie is an example of a ‘heterochromatic’ individual, for his eyes are different colours (one brown and one blue). Talking of eyes the white part should correctly be referred to as the ‘sclera’. Round the back is the nape of the neck, or rather the ‘niddick’. You don’t have warts you have kerotosas. Perhaps the beauticians among you (I’ve never met one, never needed to) are aware the half moons on your fingernails are correctly called ‘lunula’. While on the subjects of hands the fleshy part between thumb and index finger is your ‘thenar’…. ….. and the space between those two digits is the ‘purlicue’. And a little lower those creases around your wrist are not ‘creases around your wrist’ but ‘rasceta’

Before anyone writes to me I am well aware the following three do not qualify as parts of the body but I simply liked the words so much I could not leave them out. Pandiculating is the correct term for ‘yawning’. Borborygmus sufferers should be fed, it describes ‘tummy rumbling’. And ear wax sounds much better if said to be cerumen.

We would all do well to commit this list to memory. Especially a couple of individuals whose contribution to the annual holiday trek which features as many quiz nights as possible has been limited to ‘netball’ and ‘Iron Maiden’. You know who you are.

I would welcome any suggestions for themes or subjects, or even specific words to examine the origins, meanings and etymologies. I’d be delighted to hear from you.

Plural is Singular ….

….. but singulars is plural. I’m talking about the words ‘plural’ and ‘singular’, of course.

The question of odd plurals came to light when looking at the origins of place names and I discovered a dialect word ‘housen’, used until comparatively recently (at least as Old English goes) for the plural of ‘house’. I once overheard an animated debate concerning words ending in –ouse and their plurals. One pointed out that mouse became mice, and louse became lice, and therefore house should be ‘hice’ and not houses. After five minutes of this I, being distracted from the book I was supposed to be reading, suggested they settle their dispute by asking the ‘Scise’. Two blank stares and one “Humph!” and I was alone once more.

It does not follow that a word ending in –ouse always have a plural ending in –ice. Neither does –oo- always have to become –ee- simply because there is more than one as is the case with foot and feet, goose and geese, which is why moose becomes mooses. The same follows for the American idea that because the plural of locus is loci and radius is radii, this is not true of hippopotamuses, octopuses, and platypuses all the correct plurals.

On the other hand there are words which are both singular and plural – deer, offspring, series, species, and fish. Note there is a word ‘fishes’, but this is used when referring to the number of kinds of fish and not a number of individuals.

Finally I recall having a report read out loud to me some years ago. The passage which sticks in my mind contained the word read as ‘passerbys’. Later, knowing the person reading it was more than capable of making this mistake, I sneaked a look at the Daily Drivel (I shall refrain from naming and shaming) to discover they had indeed used ‘passerbys’ as the plural of ‘passerby’ and not ‘passersby’.

I would welcome any suggestions for themes or subjects, or even specific words to examine the origins, meanings and etymologies. I’d be delighted to hear from you.

Butterflies and Moths – the viewpoint of an etymologist, not an entomologist

In Britain there are some three thousand species of lepidoptera, eighty-five per cent of which are moths. For many years the mere mention of a fritillary or skipper has piqued my interest, just why were such unusual names chosen to describe moths and butterflies?

Clearly with such a vast array of these insects the etymologies of all of them cannot be covered in a single article. Hence we shall look at the most common and the families or groups. Indeed the vast majority of the names include a colour or shape, which require little or no explanation. Examples include the swallowtails, however the hairstreaks are also quite easy to explain, the fine stripes beneath the wings giving them their collective name.

Argus was a character in Greek mythology with a hundred eyes, the argus butterflies are typically brown and have wings with very eye-like spots. Fritillary is derived from a word in Modern Latin referring to 'dice box', this is most likely a reference to the wing spots, said to resemble the spots on dice. Brimstones are named for their colour, they are predominantly yellow.

Peacocks are butterflies named for the four eye-like spots on the wings which very much resemble those 'eyes' on the splendid tale of the male bird with which it shares its name. With a shape underneath the hind wings, the comma butterfly takes its name from the spots said to resemble such punctuation. Ghost Moths get their name from the display flight of the male, hovering in a display area with other males and sometimes slowly rising and falling in what is seen as typical ghostly behaviour. These are also referred to as part of the Swift group of moths, rather obviously speaking of their comparatively speedy flight.

Leopard moths take their name from the wing spots, although none resemble those of the big cat. Festoon moths have patterns which resemble a festoon, a string or chain of flowers, ribbons, leaves, etc. Hornet moths are named for their yellow stripes. Clearwings have just that, although faintly patterned would be a more accurate description.`

Another group are the foresters, which generally speaking enjoy a woodland habitat. However these were categorised when first identified and some either were mistakenly classified as such or simply have had to find alternative habitats. The lappet group have wings having a shape resembling the distinctive fold in headgear and clothing of Victorian times, also known as lappets. Hook-tips, as the name suggests, have a distinct hook on the tip of the wing.

Those named from their flight include the skippers, a group which includes the smaller skipperlings, which are characterised by their tendency for short flights with exaggerated jerking movements. No surprise to find the December moth is seen flying in that month, however it is more commonly spotted in the previous two months.

The delightfully named Gatekeeper Butterfly is a species which is found in hedges and meadow margins. For this reason it is often seen sunning itself on posts and gates of fields. Presumably it also did so when tollgates littered the country and butterflies where much more numerous than today. The Puss moth is named because of its rather hairy appearance, the Kitten moth is named because they appear a smaller version of the Puss moth. Tussock moths are very hairy, so much so the hairs often disguise the fact they are moths.

Processionary moths are known as such for they wander around in single file as caterpillars when searching for food sources. Footmen are named for having bright colours likened to the uniforms of those from the royal courts. Similarly the tigers, handmaid and muslin species are all said to resemble such.

Doubtless there are many more species of butterfly and moth to be discovered, assuming scientists identify them before man's need for land destroy these habitats. It is highly likely these new species will be named for their discoverers, as is the norm today, rather than the delightfully creative names of yesteryear.

I would welcome any suggestions for themes or subjects, or even specific words to examine the origins, meanings and etymologies. I’d be delighted to hear from you.

Talking of Fruit

We are advised to eat five portions of fruit, and vegetables, each and every single day. They come in several colours, an array of shapes, numerous sizes, and generally speaking the sweeter they are the more we like them. This is of course exactly what the plant desires, to get us to eat its fruit and spread its seeds far and wide.

However there must have been a time when someone first picked or harvested the fruit for eating. In order to pass on the information that such made good eating it was given a name. Of course there was no lavish celebration and cutting of a ceremonial ribbon, not even for those fruits which have been cultivated to produce heavier crops, more appealing colours, and better flavours.

So why were the vegetables named and what, if anything, do they mean? Taking them in no particular order we start with the apple. Doubtless this was among the earliest of fruit, although note the apple is never actually mentioned in Genesis, it is said to be the "fruit of the forbidden tree". This fits with the use of 'apple' as the generic term for all fruit until the seventeenth century - actually this did not include berries but did encompass nuts, which does seem rather confusing today.

Certainly the word can be seen in Old English aeppel, Gaulish avallo, Old Irish ubull, and Lithuanian obuolys as having a common root in Proto-Indo-European abel. It seems likely the word was applied to fruit in general for millennia, especially when we consider the French pomme 'apple' is derived from Latin pomum which again meant simply 'fruit'. Note also that the French for potato pomme de terre means 'earth apple', Middle English eorthaeppla or 'earth apples' referred to cucumbers, and tomatoes were once known as 'love apples', which would tend to confirm the original 'apple' was any fruit.

A peach gets its name from Persis meaning 'Persia' and later seen as 'Persian apple', while nectarine describes 'the nectar peach'. A quince is named after the seaport in Crete through which it was imported from its native Persia, thus telling us of 'the apple of Kydonia'. The pomegranate is from Latin pome grenate meaing 'the apple of many seeds'.

Of course the origins of many fruits depended upon when they were introduced to western Europe. Some were already being cultivated here such as the apricot, which can be traced back through Catalan aberoc, Portuguese albricoque, Arabic al-birquq, Byzantine Greek berikokkia, and ultimately from Latin (malum) praecoquum telling us it was 'the early-ripening (fruit)'.

Note the many names of fruit which are used as colours were applied to the fruit first, although both black currant and red currant were named for their colour, the word currant being a corruption of Corinth, where they were cultivated.

The avocado is a Spanish word meaning 'lawyer' and related to advocate. However this is a corruption of the earlier aguacate, from the original Nahuatl word ahuakatl meaning 'testicle' and a reference to its shape. On the subject of body parts, banana is a Spanish and/or Portuguese loan word, thought to have originated in West African Wolof word meaning simply 'food', although the Arabic banan or 'finger' cannot be discounted entirely. The date comes from the Greek daktylos meaning 'finger, toe' and suggesting it was shaped like the human digits.

Many fruits are berries, these include the blueberry and blackberry, both named for their colour. Raspberry was once seen as raspis berry from raspoie meaning 'thicket'. The origins of strawberry have never been certain, although it certainly does not come from the spreading of straw around the plants to keep the fruit clear of the damp soil. It may come from the seeds, which resemble straw dust particles.

Cranberry was originally applied to the Old World variety, thought to be from kraan or 'crane' with the stamens said to resemble the beaks of this bird. They took the word with them when settling in the New World and gave it to the similar if larger fruit found there. In England the European variety was known as the fenberry for the habitat in which it grew wild. Loganberries are a man-made strain created by crossing a blackberry and a raspberry, it was named after James H. Logan who produced the first fruit. Elderberry is another lost in the mists of time, the best guess is it is said to resemble to the alder tree.

Melon is from the Greek melopepon or 'gourd apple', from a Proto-Indo-European mahla 'grapevine, branch'. This was later seen in the Latin peponem and Middle French pompon which meant 'melon' but also gave the name of the pumpkin. Cherry originated in Greek kerasian but came to English with the Normans and cherise.

Of the citrus fruits the clementine is the most recent. In 1926 an accidental hybrid of a tangerine and an orange produced the fruit named after Father Clement Rodier in the garden of his Algerian orphanage. Tangarines were named after the Moroccan port of Tangiers from where they were first exported. Mandarins are said to be named after the colour of the robes worn by these Chinese officials. The etymology of the orange itself is unknown, although it would have been 'a norange' not 'an orange' but for confusion in the Middle Ages when it was first used as a colour.

Lemons derive their name from Old French limon and earlier meaning 'citrus fruit', hence it was originally a generic term. Lime has identical origins in Arabic limun the collective noun from limah and also meaning 'citrus fruits'. The grapefruit was so-called for it grows in clusters, similar to the grapes which, themselves come from Proto-Germanic krappon meaning 'hook' and assumed to be how they were picked. Incidentally the original English word was winberige 'the wine berry'. Similarly the name of the raisin, from a tongue related to Latin racemus meaning 'cluster of grapes'

It was the shape which gave a name to the pineapple, said to resemble the pine cone. The costard was the original Saxon name for the apple, although it is nothing like the modern varieties but is distinctly 'ribbed' and that is exactly what the name tells us. Another tropical fruit is the mango, which comes from Tamil man kay 'the tree fruit'. Among the earliest of fruits to have been gathered are sloes. Collected for millenia, as the fruit of the blackthorn it is from Proto-Indo-European sleie telling of its colour of 'bluish-black'.

One thing connects all of these names, absolutely none were named by a marketing department and could never be said to advertise themselves. This is particularly true of a modern creation, although the word ugli probably looks uglier than the fruit.

How the Elephant got its ........... Name

Some years ago I heard the story of how a certain animal got its name. It seems Captain Cook had landed at Botany Bay and, with a series of gestures and mimes, was attempting communication with the aboriginal population. When a well known animal bounded along in the distance he pointed and politely enquired in English "What is that?" He heard the reply as "kangaroo" and the marsupial had a name. What Cook did not know, and completely misunderstood, was the reply kan-ga-roo in the native tongue actually told him "I don't know!"

Such a story is highly unlikely to be true, nor does it have any etymological significance. However it did make me wonder where the names of other animals came from. Meander around most zoos and the most popular animals tend to be the largest and thus those never found in the British Isles.

The first stop was at the giraffe house, an animal initially called the camelopard by Europeans for it was said to be a cross between a camel and a leopard. Such a suggestion is a most unlikely and logistically improbable mating, even if the science of genetics was still far in the future, the real cross was solely etymological from camel for its long neck and pard for the spots. First seen as giraffa in Italian, this can be traced back to Arabic zarafa, in turn surely from an African language but one which today is unknown.

Staying on the African continent we find the lion, a word which has certainly been affected in terms of pronunciation by European languages but which was probably known better as a personal name meaning 'one who is fierce or brave'. It must have been used in Africa well before Europe, however the vast number of languages coupled with the small number of speakers and lack of written examples for each makes tracing the name impossible. The earliest we find is Hebrew labi and Egyptian labai for 'lion' and 'lioness' respectively.

The bison, so often erroneously referred to as a buffalo in North America, the word is Latin meaning 'wild ox'. This animal's name can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic wisand which described the 'aurochs', the huge ancestor of domestic cattle weighing over a ton and standing up to seven feet high at the shoulder. The last known specimen died in 1627 in the Jaktorow Forest in Poland.

Probably the most popular of the African animals is the elephant, the modern word from Latin elephantus, itself from Greek elephas which describes both the animal and its ivory. Further back we find Phoenician elu and Sanskrit ibhah. Despite the different species there is no reason to believe the African and Asian elephants have different etymologies.

Coming to the crocodile we at last find a name where we can trace the origins back to an actual meaning. The modern term can be traced back to the Greek krokodilos, a word first seen in the writings of Herodotus referring to the Nile crocodile and named for its habit of basking. The name uites the Greek words kroke or 'pebbles' and drilos meaning 'worm'.

Its reptilian cousin the alligator is much more recent, indeed not named as such until the Spanish arrived in the New World in the early seventeenth century. The name is a corruption of el lagarto describing 'the lizard' (of the Indies) and which can be traced back to Latin lacertus again 'lizard'.

No surprise to find rhinocerous is from the Greek rhinokeros and a name which suits the animal perfectly. Here we find rhinos meaning 'nose' combining with keras or 'horn', the etymology of both words are unknown but it is safe to say these words would have been among the first words used. Interestingly the shortened form of 'rhino' is not recorded until 1884.

The best known etymology of an animal name must surely be that of the hippopotamus. As with the rhino the name is Greek where hippopotamus comes from the earlier ho hippos ho potamios, literally 'the horse of the river'. The name comes from its position in the water with just the top of its head showing when, so it was said, it resembled the features of a horse. As with the rhino the shortened form is not seen in writing until quite late, first known in 1872.

Another African animal where the shortened form is first seen quite late is the chimp, appearing for the first time in 1877. Man's closest relative is named the chimpanzee from the Bantu language of Angola. Known as Tshiluba, it speaks of kivili-chimpenze and means simply 'ape'.

The largest ape is the gorilla A name first seen in the Greek gorillai, itself the plural of a name given to a large wild hairy people said to have inabited the regions of the northwest coast of Africa by the Carthiginian navigator Hanno around 500BC. As with many African animals the origin must ultimately be in one of the many native languages spoken on this huge continent.

Probably one of the loudest and most active of the animals in any zoo is the gibbon. This ape must have been known by an earlier native African name, however the earliest surviving reference is from 1770, when brought to Europe by Marquis Joseph-Francois Dupleix, former governor-general in India. This is from the Old French surname Giboin, itself from geba-win meaning 'gift-friend'. Just why it was applied to the gibbon and what its earlier name was are lost.

The stripes of the zebra are more of a mystery than the origin of its name. This is a Portuguese word describing an extinct wild ass, itself known as equiferus to the Romans and coming from two Latin words equus 'horse' and ferus 'fierce'. An animal with two names is the wildebeest or gnu. The former is Afrikaans for, not surprisingly, 'wild beasts' and is a translation of the Dutch gnoe. This went on to become gnu and is derived from the click language where !nu again meant 'wild beasts'.

Earlier we saw how the leopard was said to have been one half of a cross which resulted in the giraffe. Yet the leopard was first considered to be a cross between the lioness and the male panther, which is where the name originates in Greek leopardos. Clearly there is also a connection to the Sanskrit prdakuh 'panther'.

The other supposed half of the giraffe, the camel, is from Old French camel, Latin camelus, Greek kamelos, Phoenician gamal, and probably ultimately from Arabic jamala 'to bear'. Note the similarity with the earliest names for the elephant, both of which would have been known for their ability to be domesticated as beasts of burden and named for such.

The name of the hyena can be traced through Old French hiene to Greek hyaina which was also used for 'swine' and thus used to describe the creature as 'greedy'. The use of the word jackal to describe someone is not complimentary, it was born of the belief that this member of the dog family would stirred up prey animals for attack by lions. For the name of the animal it can be traced through Turkish cakal, Persian shaghal, and Sanskrit srgala all of which described 'the howler'.

The bear enclosure is always popular. Of course there are several kinds, the polar bear speaks for itself, the black bear and brown bear refer to their respective colours. Yet even the name bear comes from Proto-Germanic beron 'the brown one', and earlier still seen in Proto-Indo-European bher 'brown'. The grizzly is also a colour, in medieval England this referred to 'grey'. Note in many northern lands it was considered unlucky for hunters ever to refer to to their quarry by name, hence the Russian medved 'honey-eater', also seen in the Welsh name, the Irish 'good calf', Lithuanian 'the licker'.

Crossword Clues

Producing a cryptic crossword recently (or rather finishing one I'd started years ago) meant playing around with possible anagrams to produce clues. I soon found my mind wandering and before long I'd produced a selection of anagrams of famous names. I repeat some of them, it is not intended to be a test but I have split them for those who like a challenge.

First the anagrams, the answers appear below

A MAN DIVORCED
MY JERKY EEL
INKS OOZY RASCAL
SO INBORN, JOSH
WINKIE BABOON
ANODISE NINJA
HARD ADVERT
AIMED BLIND
MO WINS CELLO
LOCH CELERY
TROTH PRAYER
VILE SPY LEERS
CRY UM PLACENTA
FERN THE SPY
STRANGLE MINOR
ONION BANNERS
YON CALMER JERKS
SODDEN MELON
APISH LION
DARN CRAB RHINOS

As I said not a test but an indication of how many potential words can be made from just 26 letters of the alphabet. Clearly the shortest words contain but one letter, 'I' is a word as is 'a'.
I once overheard a conversation at the bank in which the customer used the letter 'o' as a word. And if we were to accept the apostrophe as replacing two letters then 'o' would count. Incidentally this word 'o' was the answer to the question: "How was your holiday in Spain?" to which the woman replied "Oh, ya know, 'o' " - this last word saw her drop the first 'h' and, courtesy of the abysmal glottal stop, omit the final 't'. Hence the weather was 'hot' or as she put it 'o'.
But I digress. If a one-letter word can be any of the 26 letters then there are just 26 different potential words of one letter. Today 'q' isn't a word, neither is 'k', and although 'j' is a name (correctly a nickname) it isn't a word. Yet that does not mean it may not be a word in the future and the idea is to discover potential word numbers not actual word numbers. For two letter words this is 26 x 26, for three 26 x 26 x 26, four it's 26 x 26 x 26 x 26, etc. So, the number of letters in the alphabet (26) raised to the power of number of letters in the word. This gives the following:

one-letter words = 26
two-letter words = 676
three-letter words = 15,576
four-letter words = 456,976
five-letter words = 11,881,376
six-letter words = 308,915,776
seven-letter words = 8,031,810,176
eight-letter words = 208,827,064,576
Or a grand total of 217,180,145,158
I stop at eight letters (otherwise it gets ludicrous)

To give an indication of how mind-blowing amazingly big this number is, if you were to watch a clock counting to 217,180,145,158 in seconds and it started at 00:00 on 1st January 1 AD, aside from being incredibly bored (this assuming you retain memories for longer than one second otherwise you'll be excited 217,180,145,158 times), you wouldn't even be halfway there today, in fact you'd still be sitting there on 7th January 6883.
That is, as I'm sure you will agree, a lot of words. (Henceforth I shall claim all my typographical errors to be words I will invent sometime in the future)

The anagram answers (if you're still interested):

A MAN DIVORCED - David Cameron
MY JERKY EEL - Jeremy Kyle
INKS OOZY RASCAL - Nicolas Sarkozy
SO INBORN, JOSH - Boris Johnson
WINKIE BABOON - Obiwan Kenobi
ANODISE NINJA - Indiana Jones
HARD ADVERT - Darth Vader
AIMED BLIND - Ed Miliband
MO WINS CELLO - Simon Cowell
LOCH CELERY - Cheryl Cole
TROTH PRAYER - Harry Potter
VILE SPY LEERS - Elvis Presley
CRY UM PLACENTA - Paul McCartney
FERN THE SPY - Stephen Fry
STRANGLE MINOR - Neil Armstrong
ONION BANNERS - Anne Robinson
YON CALMER JERKS - Jeremy Clarkson
SODDEN MELON - Noel Edmonds
APISH LION - Ian Hislop
DARN RHINO CRABS - Richard Branson

Free-Dumb of Speech

Grammatical errors and incorrect use of words is not a new phenomenon. Simply the ease by which we communicate in the twenty-first century has brought these annoyances to our attention.
I was born after received pronunciation had been largely abandoned by the BBC. During my formative years accents were heard everywhere - for example Michael Parkinson was probably the biggest thing on the BBC in those days, while Eddie Waring was heard every Saturday afternoon on Grandstand. Both northerners, their accents betrayed their origins but their words and grammar were quite correct. Today many presenters make a string of errors and effectively pass these on to the public.

For example, I hardly ever hear "bored with...." this days, the vast majority say "bored of....." which can only be through confusion between 'board' and 'bored'. Hence many must think the government has an office examining why the country is Board of Trade.

Could've (and should've) are perfectly acceptable contractions, short for 'could have' and 'should have' respectively. Yet when this word is split into its two constituents parts, most often for emphasis, we continually hear "Could of..." and "Should of...." or even "Could off ..." and "Should off...." in writing. I am bracing myself for the Facebook entry stating "Emma wants to off her baby at home."

Use of 'Pacific' instead of 'specific' can only be because these are people who simply never bother to read. Similarly the regions at the north and south poles are said to be the Artic and Antartic, when the map clearly shows the Arctic and Antarctic - an error also heard when purchasing an "artic roll".

Since the advent of the internet it has highlighted how so many simply have no notion of the correct use of it's and its; your and you're; to, too, and two; their, there and they're; who and whom; even an and and!

In conversation you still here libry or libary instead of library; borrowed instead of loaned; hampster instead of hamster; and increasingly esculator instead of escalator. Incidentally, please note the plural of TEXT is TEXTS and never TEXES. While "yeah?" and "right?" and "ok?" are never going to replace full stops, commas, or colons, nor will every sentence be a question, so please desist.

Finally a personal hate. The letter H is pronounced 'aitch' (look in the dictionary) it is NOT HAITCH as we hear again and again. Indeed it is constantly broadcast on ITV2 trailers suggesting such a programme is also available on "ITV2 Haitch Dee"

One Word, Infinite Uses

This week I combined photographing Cheshire with an appearance later that evening at the Wellington Literary Festival on Wednesday. Next day I was off to New Waltham near Basingstoke and snapped parts of Bedfordshire on the way south and researched around Hertfordshire on my return on Friday. Over the three days I managed to cover in excess of eight hundred miles and saw more than my fair share of traffic - be it moving or crawling, even at one stage allowing me to sip tea hot from the thermos while waiting for Eddie Stobart to edge forward sufficiently for a change of view.

On my rather lengthy travels along the motorways, highways and byways this week I found myself drawn to a single word on the side and rear of many lorries. During my days in engineering one of the many tasks I performed included ensuring the finished product reached its destination. Then we called them carriers, hauliers, transporters - today they use LOGISTICS. When I first saw this word on the side of many wagons I was intrigued as to why a word I had only ever used (or seen used) in a context such as "The logistics of dealing with so many people" required such a large container.

Of course no language is ever set in stone and it continually evolves. Uses of words change continually, what was initially a slang term grows in usage and is eventually listed in the Oxford English Dictionary along with its new definition. (Still baffled as to how "logistics" was ever a slang term!)

So while my great-aunt would no doubt have been deliriously happy to have been described as "gay", many would not find it so complimentary today. I always assumed "checking out" a hotel would be leaving, yet now I'm reliably informed such happens on arrival. I used to wear "pants", now to describe them as pants is pants, apparently. I would whistle tunes with lyrices of "Moon in June", today I'd be baring my buttocks in early summer. I still have Yorkshire pudding with any "beef" while others seem to use it as a vehicle to complain.

"Wags" was the family dog in many a children's story, now they appear at major sporting events in designer gear and criticised for "gaffs" (mistakes not hooks for landing fish), have "issues" (problems, not periodicals nor offspring), maybe "hammered" (drunk or criticised, not hit with a tool for nails), could be described as "wicked" (which is good, not devilish), or maybe "hot" (sexy or in vogue, not sweaty), "cool" (relaxed, not requiring an overcoat), "high" (under the influence of recreational drugs, not at altitude), and "sweet" (good again, not containing sugar).

I always thought "cheesy" snacks would have some sort of cheese flavour, perhaps I should now expect them to be tasteless. Turning "green" is to tap sustainable sources, as indeed it was when I was younger for displays of jealousy or potential for puking were just as inexhaustable. Once "camp" was comprised of tents (or maybe chicory-based coffee) but never anything remotely effeminate.

And spare a thought for poor "Jack", not only currently the most popular name for newborn males in the UK but he's also a lifting device in the boot of (most) cars, a sailor, a playing card, a flag, a male donkey, a predatory fish, a small ball, a kind of plug, a fruit, a small sphere with spikes, a labourer, a tosser, and even nothing whatsoever.

Double U

Words which contain 'u' twice with no intervening letter are rare, indeed there are only eight proper English words (most of which come from Latin) and another two borrowed from other languages.

vacuum = a space

continuum = a continous sequence

residuum = a chemical residue

menstruum = the matter discharged during menstruation

triduum= a three-day period of religious observance in the Catholic Church

duumvir = each of a pair of magistrates holding joint office in ancient Rome

duumvirate = a coalition of two people having joint authority

Weltanschauung = the world view of a particular individual or group (from German)

muumuu = a loose dress traditionally worn in Hawaii (from Hawaiian) which qualifies twice!

Pertaining to eleven.

We all know the sequence which begins primary, secondary, but what comes after?

Rarely used it continues tertiary, quaternary, quinary, senary, septenary, octonary, nonary, denary, giving us all the way up to ten. There is also duodenary which relates to twelve but there is no word for eleven and never has been.

Any suggestions?

Q can exist without U

A number of words containing the letter 'q' have come from other languages to be included in the English dictionary, thus making them the only words to feature 'q' and not followed by 'u'.

niqab - a veil worn by some Muslim women

qanat - (in the Middle East) an irrigation channel

qawwal - a performer of qawwali

qawwali - Muslim devotional music

qibla - the direction towards Mecca

qigong - a Chinese system of physical exercises

qintar - a monetary unit of Albania

QWERTY - the standard layout of typewriters and keyboards (the only word not imported)

tariqa - the Sufi method of spiritual learning

Any others?

Singular Plurals

When you get to thinking about oddities of words a string of peculiarities occur. Hence I make no apologies for continuing the theme.

There are many English words which only exist in the plural or do have a form without that final 's' but which has a different meaning or used in an utterly different context. I came up with the following list, any others?

Bellows, binoculars, forceps, gallows, glasses, pliers, scissors, shears, tongs, braces, briefs, jeans, knickers, pants, pyjamas, shorts, tights, trousers, economics, physics, ethics, entrails, hustings.

Any more?