Word and Phrase Origins

90. A "score" is 20. Four score = 80 The term "score" was a commonly-used Middle English word, from the Old English "scoru,"...

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Your all kind of right. Moxie falls was named by natives because of the meaning black water. I don't remember why but there was a...

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Go to a map inside of a museum, airport, train station, shopping mall, or any large venue. There will be a red dot, an arrow, or...

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FAQs became popular in the earliest days of the Internet. Wikipedia cites them as appearing in the early 1980s with the...

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A variety of answers can be given for this question. Caramel is a combination of caramelized sugar and heavy cream ,which would...

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This is found in the Holy Bible. life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand Exodus 21:23, 24 The law of "an eye...

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It is curious that Brand should not have noticed the superstitions of actors and actresses, for they are as essentially a modern...

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The expression is American in origin, though it has become extremely common in the UK since 2004. In the article you mention,...

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The word spelt 'teat' is pronounced 'tit' ___________________________________________________________________________ a womans...

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Some will say that the expression means something small and insignifigant. You'll have to agree, the knee of a bee is pretty...

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Meaning: cute as a button 'quail' The 'button' quail was small, gray & super fluffy.

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That exact term doesn't seem to be defined anywhere, but "horse play" probably originated from the way young horses frolic and...

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I think all the explainations below are written by people trying to avoid the unpleasant and far more basic meaning: A step child...

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Opera, or at least the low-brow interpretation of what's going on in opera. There are three basic possibilities for the...

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Dates back to 1945, refering to how easily movie star Errol Flynn could get women into bed with him. See related Links for the...

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This is what is called a hortatory subjunctive, used in wishes and third person imperatives. God blesses you is a simple...

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SCUBA is an acronym for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. These initials originated in 1939 in the US Navy to refer...

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The word Jew came from the name 'Judah', who was one of the original 12 sons of Jacob, from where the 12 tribes of Israel are...

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the phrase 'paint the town red' comes from the early 1900's. A few vandels painted a block of the town red for fun. Thus,...

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A Stickler is someone who unyieldingly insists on something. The earliest Sticklers were umpires or referees at wrestling or...

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1) Probably a translation / adpatation of the French sentence expression "tout va bien". 2) Since the phrase is in general not...

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It's pretty simple, at the time; Jane was the most common female name, John the most common male name, Doe the most common...

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The phrase "out of Order" came from Parliamentary procedures adopted in England to provide a sense of order to meetings of the...

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I assume you mean the English Language. As far as I know most of the English language stems from Latin --- Most of the words in...

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The phrase "God Bless you" has originated from an Islamic practice around more than 1400 years ago. According to Islam religion,...

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Turn in "go to bed" is attested from 1695, originally nautical.

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An Italian-American slang term for something that is not authentic. It was made famous by the movie Donnie Brasco. In reference...

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English is an Anglo-Frisian language brought to Britain in the 5th Century AD by Germanic settlers from various parts of...

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Slang is jargon used by one specific group of people. It comes about as that group talks to each other - they naturally use words...

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she records them even though they are boring and listens to them in jesus's gramophone she plays twister in her spare time and...

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It's a Bengali word adopted into the English language. answer i've also heard the explanation "a builder ran out of bricks...

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One scientist came up with these statistics after examining 10,000 words found in business letters: French: 41% "Native"...

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The beginnings of the word come from a phrase such as, "would it bring you pleasure to ..." Pleasure in that context is only...

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It was originated from slavery, from my references. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first recorded use of...

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It is a motherless calf. Origin unknown.

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My dictionary says it comes from the Chinese (Amoy) t'e, which is derived from the ancient Chinese d'a.

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At the risk of repeating other people's work, we could start by considering Chomsky's thinking on this. Assembled experiences of...

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Lord Sandwich who loved playing cards couldnt leave the table and therefore needed something quick to eat. So he made the first...

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Def con is an "underground" hacking convention. This is an American military term used to report the level of threat to the...

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Calatrava was (and may still be) city extreme southern borders of Castile (Spain). The origin and original meaning of the word is...

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Billy Condon

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The definition of 'vandalism' is willful or malicious destruction or defacement of public or private property.

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That would be St. Peter in the Bible.

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Based on the verb persuade. Root: Latin, per, "through," in the sense of "thoroughly," and suadere, "to urge."

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The word "pound" comes from the Latin word pendere, meaning "to weigh".

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french Au contraire , Thank you derives from the German Danke, also rendered as Dank U in Dutch

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I don't know if there can be found any words (because I can't find any dictionary on the Internet of a Siberian language or a...

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this is a communication barrier characterized by false information or hearsays. gossip As in, "I heard it through the...

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the first people to do these things [theatre and drama] were the Egyptians, and from them the Greeks learned them

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Its origin had nothing to do with the post office. Mail in this sense was an old Anglo-Norse term for rent or tribute. During the...

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From the on-line etymology dictionary: intelligence 1390, "faculty of understanding," from O.Fr. intelligence (12c.), from L....

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It used to be two words. The normal progression is from "open" (two separate words) to hyphenated to "closed" (one word). This...

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Spoon is derived from Old English spón, meaning chip of wood (Compare Old Norse spann, sponn chip/splinter, spoon; Swedish spån...

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No, deeded is not a word whoever asked this question because deeded is already pural. Of course "deeded" is a word. The asker is...

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Cebuano numbers are the same in Spanish numbers same pronouncement and spelling. as in uno, dos, tres etc... one, two, three...

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One of the meanings of "grave" is "serious." From Dictionary.com: 1. serious or solemn; sober: a grave person; grave thoughts. ...

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I do not know but I suggest using wiktionary. A 'numty' is to describe a mildly moronic person. It derives from the English...

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The Muckshaw Ponds Preserve is a place in Sussex County, New Jersey. It features natural sink holes and supports a high...

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Very simple answer. This French term simply means that the problem has been solved; that the program has been completed; that...

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Marie Antoinette is reported to have said 'Qu'ils mangent de la brioche'. When French bakers ran out of bread, they were obliged...

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The terms "negro, black, colored, and ethiopia" were all marks placed upon the Moors of Northwest by the Europeon nations in...

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if you look into swear words past they all come from different origins.

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The original meaning of the term 'apple of your eye' was the iris or center of the eye. Shakespeare used the term with this...

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No. Check any dictionary.

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Shampoo: From Hindi cā[mdot]pō, imperative of cā[mdot]pnā, to press http://www.answers.com/shampoo

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Most likely a naval term, the hauling of a rope is done "hand over fist". Originally indicated slow steady progress, as in...

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The word circa is Latin and in English it means about, approximately.

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According to the Online Etymology Dictionary: ; step- : O.E. steop-, with connotations of "loss," in combinations like steopcild...

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Mirriam websters dictionary Answer Go to OneLook.com and key in your question. You will automatically get definitions from all...

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Also many, but not all, dictionaries include the etymologies of words, usually before the definition.

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I'm sure I could find the answer to this in a nanosecond by searching for it, but my guess it would be something to do with Rigor...

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Pteropsida are type of fern, but the term encompasses several sub-types: see http://www.answers.com/pteropsida A large group of...

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Because hospitals take care of you, thats what hospitality is. I'm sure there's a better answer using the latin root word(s),...

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As opposed to a "tollway" on which the user is charged for using the highway, freeways do not charge a fee for use.

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The following is a list of words that contain the root port: report portal sport support rapport transport purport export...

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I guess it could come from latin "pulire", to clean

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I believe this comes from "kneading bread, or dough". "To knead or shape something out of soft dough". This can be answered by...

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The word bastard originates from latin/greek word berstardium and it means the man who has no father as time has left him...

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From Dictionary.com: Word History: Water is wet, even etymologically. The Indo-European root of water is *wed-, "wet." This root...

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'Toney', i.e. having 'tone' means "Marked by an aristocratic or high-toned manner or style." Hence, a 'toney suburb' would be a...

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Arabic Admihr al bahr Commander of the sea Answer Strictly speaking, admiral came from amir-al meaning "commander of..." or...

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It seems that in the 12th century the arms of the crescent were open to the top. King Richard I of England adopted the star and...

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have a couple dates, ask him questions, just hang out with him. and since you both are shy, hang out with a group of friends...

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The name 'banana' is apparently derived from the Arab word for 'finger'.

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Middle English gagel, from gagelen, to cackle, probably of imitative origin.

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The Tropic of Capricorn originates from the constellation Capricornus, which marked the southern limit of the plane of the...

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From dis, meaning not, and able.

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'ZIP' actually stands for Zone Improvement Plan, designed to improve mail sorting and delivery more efficiently. ZIP (Zone...

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It is an old and very racist term that should never have been used at the time, and definitely should not be used today. When...

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do what you should do at the time that you should do it.

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The word chick is a short form for chicken and its use in American slang to refer to a young woman is attributed to Sinclair...

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It comes from the Latin botanicus and the Greek botane meaning 'plant' or ' herb'. ANAMIKA Botany word come from greek word...

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It's from the Greek "Rhesos," which was the name of a mythological figure. It's from "Rhesos", king of Thrace in north Greece...

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a bit of knowledge means less knowledge (to someone) bit of knowledge a material which gives knowledge

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The more correct term is "bald-faced lie" or "bare-faced lie" (bare is more common in Great Britain). It refers to a "shameless"...

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Yes, King Henry was on his way to Scotland, and stopped just outside Preston where he was served a loin steak. He enjoyed the...

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where did the word sad come from?

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