Word and Phrase Origins
Includes questions related to the origins and etymology of English words and phrases.
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Durkee Atwood
Ntembu
AquaRescue
IObsceneBarbie
Francepa
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Lazarus
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Durkee Atwood
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On the Wallaby
Organization
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Notyouraveragedummy
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Marissa MurrayThe fo is pronounced like foe-bee-uh.
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To lollygag is to loiter around without any specific goal. Wasting time would also be called lollygagging. lollygag - dawdle
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Share means 'to cut' - and is also found in the word scissors. If you go back a bit they are scaer-ssors, or cutters.
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humans Were the first to invent language! so its a duh question or answer !DUH But here's the thing, not one person decided to...
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that you cant make some people happy
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It may possibly be from the German phrase "Alle, alle auch sind frei!", which means "everybody is free!"
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The word, originally onomatopoeic baby-talk, was popularized by the band Green Day on their highly successful 1994 studio album.
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Animate, animal, animalistic, and animated
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From the online etymology dictionary: O.E. fæder, from P.Gmc. *fader (cf. O.N. faðir, Ger. vater), from PIE *p@ter (cf. Skt....
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The holiday we now know as Halloween was originally called Samhain, which is a Celtic word. So Samhainophobia would be fear of...
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AnswerMany fanciful derivations for okay abound. Most likely, okay comes from the Gullah word okeh. "Most likely"No, not most...
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I think the word revolt comes from the Italian rivoltare, to return
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The noun 'cereal', recorded in English in 1818 as an adjective meaning 'of or relating to edible grain', is first recorded as an...
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The word "détour" is French, it comes from the word "tour" of which one of the meanings is "turn"...
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Yo momma, the phrase usually consisting of insulting somebody, was first introduced, when a famous musician once believed an...
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the Latin root of the word audience is Audire, which means to hear. beginning in the 14th century the word audience referred to a...
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Discipulus, meaning "pupil, disciple."
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It refers to the end of the day's work on the railroads where the wagons were uncoupled
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A comma--unless the three items contain a comma, then use a semicolon. I think this is correct: If they are related, a comma. If...
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It comes from the Greek word baptisma, meaning baptism which in turn was the word for the act of dipping or washing an article....
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Spondaic dimeter is a term for a specific kind of poetry, formed from the meaningful words "spondee," "di-," and "meter." A...
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Even if something good happens to you, it doesn't mean there will be many good things happening too. For example: Bill passed an...
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conserve sirf scientists karenge....hum to mazaa lenge sirf..
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Shirk means to bring partnership to AllahAnswerShirk means attributing partners to Allahu ta'ala. A person who does the...
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It comes from the arab word 'amir.' It means naval commander. AdmiralAdmiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of...
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look it up on reference.com. It has a dictionary, thesaraus, and encyclopedia you can look iy up on for free
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i think the inference is that your eye lids are like a skin that need to be peeled back so that your eyes are open. like you peel...
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Cash, bash, smash, mash, lash, dash. Those are only a few, however. bash, stash, flash, dash, trash, sash, hash, lash, mash,...
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Persia, during The Crusades.
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It is a grammatical shortening or grammaticalization of "How are you?" resulting from habitual use. Hiya (How you) served as an...
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Origin - This expression began in the 1800s when many women wore their long hair pinned up in public and only let it down in...
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The English word kitchen comes from the Dutch "keuken" and the similar German word which means "to cook".
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It means land or ground and it could also mean people on the globe. Genesis 11:1 says all the earth continued to be one language...
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Both, really. Autumn has been used since the 14th Century, Fall is much later, during the 17th Century. Usage of Fall has...
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The Name October came from Octavian Caesar and the Latin root "octo" meaning eighth in the roman calender it was the eighth month...
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"Get a Room" was first phrased in the movie "Fatso" in 1980.
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The measured arrangement of words in poetry, as by accentual rhythm, syllabic quantity, or the number of syllables in a line.
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A depot is a large amount of something (for example - a sotrage depot = warehouse).Some medicines can be given as depot injection...
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There is no abbreviation for the word studio. Studio is actually an abbreviation of the longer origin word "studiolomante".
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its spelled sconnie
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Libra used to be a measurement in ancient Rome equal to about 12 ounces. Lbs. is an abbreviation for "Libras". While libra became...
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Came from nowhere.
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No. Second means next after first, while fecund means fertile.
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It depends on which definition of "shrink" you're using. Shrink - to become smaller in size. - When the bread dehydrates it...
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Trade means a job , profession , vocation or craft .
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If this is for school it's probably in you book.
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Tomatoes are deeply red, so the expression "red as a tomato" means that something is as red as it can possibly be. However as...
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Most likely from Juracan, an ancient god from the indigenous population of the caribbean. Juracan was the god of storms and winds.
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Latin signum (sign), Medieval Latin signale, were the origins of the English word signal.
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John has a good sense of humour.
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The word was once used to denote the division of the twelve sects of ancient Hebrews. Also, the word tribe can be traced back to...
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The Online Etymology Dictionary says that it was first recorded in 1768:...
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The area currently called Poland and Eastern Germany.
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The expression comes from the Bible. It occurs in Matthew 5:13 and is part of the Sermon on the Mount: "You are the salt of the...
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It simply means "Do a great job!". It comes from American baseball. Knocking one out of the park is to hit a home run out of the...
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in spite of adverse situation i doing this job
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April 18th, 1891 a local passenger train collided with a fast mail train in Kipton, Ohio. The event took the lives of eight...
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Kinswoman is derived from the male Kinsman, who is a 'man beloning to one's kin', i.e. kindred or family.
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It is the slogan of the United Negro College Fund. Take a look at the site's homepage via the Related Link. Originally, the...
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For no other reason than that English spelling is a hodge-podge of changes and inconsistencies that developed over the last 1000+...
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The trench coat is a descendant of the heavy serge coats worn by French and British soldiers in World War 1. The trench coat was...
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In Medieval times and later periods meals were often served on square wooden plates called Trenchers or platters, commonly known...
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AnswerThe girl was feeling some ambivalence when she had to choose between two very close answers Answer The ambivalence...
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Some words that describe the game of basketball are fast, exciting, best, addictive, and the team New York Knicks.
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See http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/44/messages/944.html for this discussion.
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The word "fluffy" was simply the word "fluff" and the ending "-y" put together. It has been used since 1825. Please see the...
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No one important. However, Paul J Meyer said "Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and...
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Originally from the Latin re+cord = more at heart, as it came in to Middle English in the 14th century, it meant literally to...
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en- 1 (also em-) prefix 1 forming verbs (added to nouns) expressing entry into the specified state or location : engulf |...
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People once believed that madness was affected by the phases of the moon. A lunatic was thus someone afficted with "moon madness"
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IT MEANS WHO DO YOU LOVE.
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Eke means to extend, to supplement. It comes from a word meaning "and" or "also."
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When used to mean "somewhat," kind of is informal: She's kind of cute. When used taxonomically to indicate classification, kind...
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We get the English word Demon from that.
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No, the word robot comes from the Czech word "robota," meaning "industrial labor." The word first appeared in Karel Capek's...
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In 1765 a Parisian soup-vendor named Boulanger (which, confusingly, means Baker) put up a sign outside his shop in Latin,...
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To find the root, we first have to find the word. Helipoter isn't a recognized word in any dictionary consulted. You may have...
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The New York City Slang expression, meaning "fastidious man" was coined in 1883 from unknown origin. Dude ranch was first...
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I'm not quite sure but the closest I can get to the origin is the person that named it: Baron Axel Fredrick Cronstedt. Nickel...
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Something Gross = SG Something Gross=SG
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AnswerSince the faith of the early believers was centred on Jesus Christ and on the fact that they believed Him to be 'the...
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"Vis" means to see. Words include: vision (eyesight), visitor (someone who comes to see you), visible (able to be seen clearly),...
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In mathematics, more specifically quadratics, it refers to "OR." As opposed to "AND", which is represented by an upside down...
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Goodbye Comes from "God be with (ye)you"
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When I get aroundtoit (a_round_to_it), I'll look up the answer for you.
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Depending on use and context: 1). Good for you. You stood up for yourself. Go for it. Keep going. That's brave of you. 2). I...
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Believe it or not, its origin (etymology) is unknown.
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