Word and Phrase Origins
Includes questions related to the origins and etymology of English words and phrases.
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Answers
Durkee Atwood
Ntembu
AquaRescue
IObsceneBarbie
Francepa
Edits
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Peterc14
Durkee Atwood
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On the Wallaby
Organization
Peterc14
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Notyouraveragedummy
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Marissa MurrayActually, there are three canine terms that sometimes refer to guys: Wolf: A guy constantly "on the make" Hound: See "Wolf" ...
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For some, development has the appearance of successful commercial enterprise; for others, the face of development is one of...
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thousands of words can be made by pandemonium likedemanddemonmindnamemeanminemodepa...
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The term unit is derived from the Latin word unus, meaning one. Source is from my Dictionary (the actual book, not the Internet).
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No, it is not. The Bible says that the 'MEEK(humble/ teachable) will inherit the earth...and live forever upon it' (Psalms...
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Boo means your boyfriend/girlfriend in the relationship.Ex. That's my boo.
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Chicken farmers!
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There is a phrase above. It says "All that is was and forever will be".
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SpanishNot accurate as is an adapted word by the Spanish. It is as follows:Sixteenth century writers commonly call the fruit...
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It means that we should forgive and love one another.
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Zesty means flavorful of full of spice.If a person is zesty then they keep things interesting and spicy.
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It was first made in the Second World War in case Germany conquered England, kind of a way to encourage them to carry on...
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The view in metaphysics that reality is a unified whole and that all existing things can be ascribed to or described by a single...
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The dictionary definition of this phrase is: A very remote place far away from other places. Or far from other human...
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The word "support" is from Old French and before that, Latin. It has been used since the late fourteenth century. Please see the...
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269 years after the death of Jesus Christ. Today we would be 2010 AD.
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I don't know you tell me.
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It's French for 'Happy new year'
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The word, graffiti, as used today, comes to us from the Italian word, graffiato (scratched). Originally, it came from the Greek...
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apps is simply and abbreviation for applications.
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Basically, all socks should have at least one hole - the one you put your foot in. By saying, "Your sock has a hole IN IT"...
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It's an indirect way of saying someone has become pregnant.
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because everything they sell has fleas in it
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You may have a delayed case of Spina Bifida (usually present in developing embryos) Seek medical attention uregently
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.. people dont?On my way is not a proper word but on the way is a proper word.
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Slang usually develops to either: (1) develop subcultures within a linguistic community and thus shift speech registers and...
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stooshthanks for reading x
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Louisiana was named by French explorer la Salle for Louis XIV of France. The name originally applied to the entire Mississippi...
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Nines probably refers to canines, which are the sharp teeth in the front of your mouth, and so basically that means you're...
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It comes from a French word banquet, which means 'little bench'. One can only imagine that the benches were small because...
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Conversations with friends or family
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As an alternative for the thesaurus it is not but in real life murder does effect the lives of a countless amount of people...
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fluid (adj.) early 15c., from M.Fr. fluide (14c.) and directly from L. fluidus "fluid, flowing, moist," from fluere "to flow"...
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1776
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The Latin incitare which means to spur or urge on
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It means that you've carefully weighed all the facts or opinions. You could say 'generally speaking', 'on the whole', or 'in...
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The origins of Oklahoma's nickname stretch back to the Civil War era. The Homestead Act of 1862, signed by President Abraham...
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The word "barn" is from Old English. It is from a word meaning "barley house." Please see the related link below.
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modulate and demodulate
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It could mean that you are sensitive to certain topics or you're teacher can't approach you with out you seeing him as a threat...
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"Ingenuous" means naive or innocent. (Think of the word "ingenue" for a stage role for a young, innocent woman.) "Disingenuous"...
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The word "pastrami" is from the Yiddish word "pastrame." Its spelling in English is probably from the influence of the word...
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because they think its cool but its not.
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i dont know dats why i am asking u people
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Around the turn of the 20th century, Irish street gangs ran wild in New York City. Extortion was one of the primary means of...
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It is generally accepted as referring to the fact that a three rolled in most dice games is a losing roll; "keeps coming up...
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No.But don't listen to Ben because he is often wrong.
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It comes from the Old English "scearu," which means "division."
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It is likely that spaniels originated from Spain as the word spaniel appears to be derived from the French word Espagnol, meaning...
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Old English segel (noun), seglian(verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutchzeil and German Segel (nouns).
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The word 'tiger' was taken from the Greek word 'tigris'.
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The Declaration of Independence
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In Various mints across the USA such as San Francisco, Carson city, new Orleans and Philadelphia were among the ones in 1800s
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The word "loot" is actually a Hindi word which means the same
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Tenacity, moral courage, "guts", backbone.
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A realistic goal is something that you want to achieve and which you have a good chance of being able to achieve. For example, if...
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"Herding cats" is a way of saying you are doing something that is very difficult and frustrating. Unlike cows, goats, or sheep,...
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The noun 'guacamole' is a Spanish-American word originating from the Nahuatl, or Aztec, term ahuacamolli: ahuacatl (avocado) plus...
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ORIGIN Old English cyssan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch kussen and German küssen.
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Europeans came to America and showed the Indians how to make bread and use forks. They couldn't figure out how to make the bread...
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The world is called the earth because that is its name. There is no meaning behind its name. ANSWER: The word "earth" is an Old...
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"After them."...or, It moves in with the evil that women do.
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Yes, because it tells when the person went to the gym.
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In chemistry a base is a substance that is a water-soluble compound capable of reacting with an acid to form a salt and water. An...
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Mass - meaning to kill a mass amount of people, a large and big amount of people. The number can vary, but the reason why mass is...
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attract, subtract, detract, tractor, intractable, contract, retract, abstract, protractor
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Things that were see-through and could break.
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The origin of this phrase can be found in the 15th and 16th centuries. Either 2 dogs fighting over a bone or a dog chewing...
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Probably because it's not silent. If it was it would sound like the word Cost with A G instead of a C.
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F ucking L abia O rgasm G enius...
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"and Zephyrus eke with his swete breth..." - Chaucer "Eke" does not mean "get by," or "barely make a living" except in...
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The many Algonquian languages of eastern North America and Canada. They use many variants such as: mukesinnah (Ojibwe) makesena...
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'Sputnik' is how the Russian word 'Cпутник' (Satellite) is written in English.
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The clue is the prefix un-, an Old English way of forming a negative of adjectives. The origin of the word is Old English cann,...
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Yes. It comes from an old proverb stating that "words are silver but silence is golden", or something along those lines.
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The word, politic, is derived from the Greek word, polis, meaning city/community. The Greek root word, polis, has been in...
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They had copper buttons on their uniforms. - - - - - - - While it's entirely possible that policemen had copper buttons, or...
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It is similar to "as well as" or "last but not least". Think of the layers on top of a cake as information. The icing is " on top...
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Synthetic comes from the Greek sun (meaning "with") and the Greek tithenai (meaning "put, place"). That is to say, synthetic...
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Retired and Extremely Dangerous. R.E.D
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indescribable?
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Rob Roy refers to Robert Roy MacGregor, who's referred to as the Scottish Robin Hood. So someone is going to take you down like...
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Easy! 'Thats whats up' means, well. what do you think. it means what the person just told you is whats up. if that didn't help...
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It comes originally from the Latin word "bos," meaning "ox" or "cow," which became "buef" in old French.
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