This week the girls take aim at English Words Like How?...
Ever wondered how words are created? Ever heard someone say something and wonder how on earth that's an actual word? Tune in as we discover how words are made and discuss some words that left us thinking "how is this a word?".
But first, what were we drinking?
Amy was drinking Brian Fletcher Merlot
Bianca was drinking The Companions Shiraz Tempranillo.
Sarah was not drinking because the fun police said she can't.
Amy introduced this week's topic and discussed the 13 ways in which new words are formed. They are:
Derivation
Back formation
Compounding
Repurposing
Conversion
Eponyms
Abbreviations
Loanwords
Onomatopeia
Reduplication
Nonce words
Error
Portmanteaus
Amy also discussed two words that she came across in her research of this topic.
The first is Omnishambles which is a classic compound word using the root words Omni (meaning all things) and shambles (meaning a state of total disorder). Omni shambles was added to the Oxford dictionary in 2019. Amy loves this word because it eloquently describes many aspects of her life right now.
Amy's second word was Meh. Meh is defined as an expression of indifference or boredom. This nonce word is thought to have originated from an episode of the tv show the Simpsons although Webster's dictionary claims it originated in 1992 (it did not give any details to back up this claim nor cite the Simpsons as its creator).
Amy also gave a special shout-out to a new word she learned being Mc Job. Mc Job is defined as a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for advancement. This word can be found in Webster's dictionary.
Bianca talks about some things she found very interesting…
Words ending in "ard" or "art" are intensifiers meaning they mean "too" or "very" of something
Wizard is someone who is very wise.
Drunkard is someone who drinks too much.
Braggart is someone who brags too much.
And a dullard is someone who is very dull/stupid.
So then when we look at the word mustard this means it's very musty or pungent from the Latin mustum meaning new wine from root which is wet.
Coward is from the Latin word cauda which means tail but it's also influenced by the English words cower and cowed
You may notice that these words have negative connotations which mean ard and art make words derogatory.
So next we have bastard which comes from the old french fils de bast which translates to packsaddle son. Which derives from people conceiving children with someone they’re not married to while traveling.
Bianca's next fun tidbits are;
Chai tea means tea tea
But if you think that's bad you’ve probably never heard of Torpenhow hill in England… “Tor” is the old English word for hill and one day a welsh guy walks up and is like “hey, what's that called?” and they say “oh it's Torr,” He says “great it's now called Torpen because pen means hill in welsh”. Then an English guy comes later and says “what's that?” and the guys go “oh this is Torpen” and the English guy says “great it's now Torpenhow, because Hou means hill in new English”
And so today we have Torpenhow Hill which literally translates to Hill Hill Hill Hill.
And my last tidbit for the evening is Ampersand the funny little "and"(&) symbol.
In the 1st century AD the first spelling of “and” was “et” in Latin, the Romans actually created a symbol by merging the letter E and the T together. Over time this symbol evolved 6 times until it looked like the symbol we use today.
Now, by 19th century Britain the and symbol became so popular among students it was the 27th letter of the alphabet.
When students of the time are referring to a single letter that can also be used as a word like I and A they should use the Latin per se before it. Which means on its own or by itself. The same thing happened with the letter &. So the alphabet ended XYZ and & or XYZ and per se &. Over time students shortened and per se and to Ampersand. Which is the official name for this symbol.
Sarah ended the show with some words that she likes to use and some she didn't even know existed but were fun to say.
Collywobbles - This refers to a weird feeling in your stomach or an overall bellyache. It is derived from the Latin phrase cholera morbus, meaning it came from the disease we all know as cholera.
Lollygag - The origin of this word is unknown, but it first surfaced around 1868. The definition of “lollygag” is someone who is messing around or wasting time. It also refers to someone who is doing something that isn’t serious or useful.
Erinaceous - This is a strange one; it refers to something or someone who resembles a hedgehog.
Nudiustertian - Have you ever wished that you had a word for the day before yesterday? This is that word! It might be a little bit convoluted to say, but it is an interesting-sounding word.
Pauciloquent - If you are a person of few words, then this is the term for you. It refers to someone who doesn’t say much or who, when giving a speech, gives a very short one. This is a great way for you to tell people you are a person of few words, without having to say that whole long statement.
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