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Debunked: The etymology of the 4-letter word "fuck" is an acronym of old. [e.g. "Fornication Under Consent of the King."] |
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True: Lord knows, there're lots of variations of the middle initials/names for "Jesus H. Christ." |
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True: ...like Haploid/hermaphrodite/Harold/etc. If you must, post it to rec.humor. |
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In Dispute: "HAL" in the film "2001: A Space Odyssey" was derived from letters for "IBM" |
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True: ...Arthur C. Clarke has maintained that it was not. |
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Documented: The expression "86" (to put the kibosh on), originated in 1920s diner slang. |
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In Dispute: A.J. Balfour was appointed Secretary of Ireland by his Uncle Bob. Nepotism? And Bob's your uncle. |
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Documented: J.F. Kennedy said "Ich bin ein Berliner." This could mean either "I am a native of Berlin" or "I am a jelly doughnut." Berliners knew what he was talking about |
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Documented: "Hamburgers" and "Frankfurters" are named after cities in Germany, too. |
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Debunked: German was once within one or two votes of becoming the official US language |
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Documented: Hebrew was suggested as a candidate for the official language of the US. |
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Debunked: US Civil War General Hooker is the source for a common term for streetwalkers. |
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Documented: ...Though he helped popularize it. |
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Debunked: The word "crap" is an eponym for Thomas Crapper, the inventor of the flush toilet. |
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Debunked: Otto Titzling invented the brassiere. |
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Debunked: The words to "Louie, Louie" are dirty. |
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In Dispute: Eskimos have some megaboss number of words for snow. |
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Debunked: ...There's something significant about this. |
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Documented: ...English does too, and also a large number for liquid water. |
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Debunked: "Posh" is from "Port Out, Starboard Home" from Colonial English days. |
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In Dispute: "In like Flynn" is from Errol Flynn's acquittal on statutory rape charges. |
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Documented: "Okay" or "OK" is originally from a misspelling fad: "Oll Korrect" (all correct); popularized by "Old Kinderhook" Van Buren in election campaign. |
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Documented: The du Pont Co. has claimed (1940) that "nylon" was an arbitrary coinage, but also (1978) that it was a modification of "no run" spelled backwards. |
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Debunked: The song "Puff the Magic Dragon" is either about smoking pot or a Vietnam war weapon. |
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Documented: Winston Churchill once said something memorable. |
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Documented: There is no good etymology for the phrase "The whole nine yards." |
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Documented: Suggestions have included: Volume in a concrete mixer, coal truck, or a wealthy person's grave; amount of cloth in a man's custom-made (i.e., "bespoke") suit, sports games, funeral shroud, kilt, in a bolt of cloth, square area in a ship's sails, and volume in a soldier's pack. In 1998-99, the WWII fighter plane ammo belt theory came back in vogue. None of these explanations has any evidence to support them. |
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Documented: We don't want to hear your explanation of "nine yards," unless you have documentable evidence to indicate that it is true. |
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Debunked: The childhood rhyme "Ring Around the Rosie" has ties to the Black Plague. |
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Documented: The Chinese characters for "Coca-cola" could sound like those for "bite the wax tadpole." |
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Unknown: Pepsi had a similar episode where "Come Alive with Pepsi!" is rendered as "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead!" in Chinese. |
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Debunked: The old Chevy Nova was a failure in Spanish-speaking countries because it translates to "No go." |
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Documented: Lots of people think threads like the etymology of company names such as "Exxon" are interesting and/or have some relevance. |
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Debunked: The expression "rule of thumb" came from an old practice that permitted husbands to beat their wives as long as it was with a stick no larger than his thumb. |
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Debunked: The word "squaw" is a Native American term for the female genitalia. |
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Debunked: The word "picnic" refers to the practice of al fresco dining at the lynchings of African-Americans in the post-bellum South. |
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Debunked: This froup is an excellent forum for discussing the petty details and intricacies of English grammar, usage, and etymology. |
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Documented: U. Woman had "tree in the bedina" -- potato used as pessary, sprouted... U. Woman had "Smiling Mighty Jesus" -- spinal meningitis. U. Woman had "sick as hell anemia" -- sickle cell anemia U. Woman named child "Nosmo King" after sign on delivery room door. T. There're lots of stupid sounding names. I don't need to hear any more of 'em. |
