The English language is very difficult to learn. First, it’s full of weird idioms, like the sayings about not crying over spilled milk, looking at a gift horse in your mouth, or having an egg on your face. Second, it is shocking, stupefying, formidable, and distressing that we have so many synonyms. Many of these difficulties arise from the fact that English is based on a combination of different languages. Sometimes we can easily see the similarities between English words and the languages they are borrowed from. Other times, this can be a bit more difficult. The following 10 English words have rather strange origins that may surprise you.
10.Lesbian
The word “lesbian”, which is used to describe women who love other women, is derived from the Greek island of Lesbos. Around 600 a. C., a poet named Safo lived on this island. Most of his poetry has been lost to time, but we have compiled fragments of his works from other writers who cited him in their works. Much of his writing was about women, and many of his poems are quite passionate about love. This has led to speculation that he may have been. According to some reports, she may have been married and had a daughter. But it is difficult to reconstruct the fragments that exist on Sappho.
His daughter was named Cleis, but some scholars argue that this was actually the name of Sappho’s lover. Her husband was said to be Kerkylas from the island of Andros. However, the name “Kerkylas” is similar to the word “penis” and “Andros” is like the word “man”. So the fact that her husband was called “Penis from the Isle of Man” implies that it was probably a joke.
9.Assassin
A “murderer” is a person who commits murder for money or for a fanatical reason, such as political ideology. The history of this word goes back to the Crusades. At the time, a sect called Nizari Ismaili operated outside of Lebanon. They were fanatical Muslims responding to a leader known as the “Old Man of the Mountains.”
This sect was responsible for assassinating many leaders of opposing forces. Western Europeans believed that members of Nizari Ismaili did so after consuming large amounts of hashish, which elevated them. Although this is debatable, it earned them the nickname hashish in (“user of hashish”). When this word became part of the English language, it had already made its way into the Italian and French languages and had mutated into the word “killer.
8.Walrus
Before writing The Lord of the Rings, author J.R.R. Tolkien worked for the Oxford English Dictionary. As part of his duties, he had to discover the history of words beginning with the letter W, including “walrus”. Tolkien found various stories behind this seemingly simple word. He believed that “walrus” was most likely derived from crosshair, an Old Norse word that translates to “horse whale.” The whale part makes sense because walruses are also huge and have fins. But the horse part is confusing. All we really know is that someone long ago probably looked at a huge mustachioed creature with giant fangs and thought the best comparison to a land animal was a horse.
Although Tolkien decided that the equine whale “walrus” etymology was the most reasonable, he worked on this decision for quite some time. He reportedly had more than six versions of the history of this word, some of which still exist in the archives of the Oxford English Dictionary.
7.Quarantine
Surely we have all come across the word “quarantine” on television or in the newspapers. Some may even have experienced it firsthand since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, as this term has long been associated with disease outbreaks. “Quarantine” is derived from the Italian word quarantine (“40-day period”). When the plague spread across Europe, Venetian policies dictated that ships arriving from affected countries could not enter ports until 40 days had passed. This was intended to ensure that no cases of plague were brought into the country.
Similarly, people traveling during the coronavirus pandemic have been ordered to isolate themselves for two weeks to prevent transmission of the disease. We should probably be thankful that we no longer use the 40-day period from the time of the plague; however, you may be wondering how 40 days was chosen as the correct time period to isolate someone. It is probably because 40 is an important religious number in Christianity. Medieval Christians believed that Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert and that it rained for 40 days and 40 nights in the story of Noah’s Ark. The idea that people needed 40 days to purify fit well with the existing religious beliefs of the time.
6.Nimrod
“Nimrod” is often used as an insult to someone who is clumsy or foolish, but this word originally had a very different meaning. Nimrod is the name of Noah’s great-grandson in the Bible, and he was said to be a great hunter. This word only came to be associated with clumsiness and goofiness in the 1980s, and the reasons for this are debatable.
According to one theory, the alternative meaning of the word arises from its use in the Bugs Bunny cartoons. Bugs was relentlessly pursued by inept hunter Elmer Fudd. That rogue rabbit sometimes referred to Fudd as a “Nimrod” to sarcastically compare his lack of hunting skills to that of the mighty Nimrod from the Bible. However, because the young audience did not understand the insult and sarcasm, “nimrod” became a term used to describe someone who was clumsy or silly.
5.Muscle
When you look at a large, muscular person, the first image that comes to mind is unlikely to be that of a tiny mouse. Therefore, it might surprise you to learn that the word “muscle” is derived from the Latin word musculus (“little mouse”). The reason for this strange connection between muscles and mice has to do with appearances. Our ancestors simply thought that a flexed bicep looked a lot like a small mouse that moved under a person’s skin.
Middle English had another word for someone muscular: lacerating. You may be glad to know that this word has nothing to do with mice. Instead, it means lizard-like. Maybe lizards in the past were pretty trapped
4.Cancer
The connection between the astrological sign of Cancer and the disease of the same name is based on crabs. The word “cancer” is derived from the Latin word for “crab.” Cancer’s astrological sign is based on a constellation that is supposed to look like a crab, although it actually looks more like an inverted Y in the sky. In Greek mythology, Heracles crushed a giant enemy crab under his foot during a battle with Hydra. Afterward, Hera rewarded the crab for its service by placing its remains in the sky among the stars. That became the constellation Cancer.
Returning to reality, a cancerous growth, usually surrounded by swollen veins and connections, got its name from its appearance similar to a rounded crab body with legs extending from it. The similarity between crabs and cancerous tumors was noted by several prominent ancient Greek physicians, including Hippocrates.
3.Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease characterized by recurrent fevers, anemia, and jaundice. However, the story behind the name of this disease comes from a misunderstanding about its cause. Before we knew that mosquitoes were responsible for infecting humans with malaria, there was something called the miasma theory. According to this theory, decomposing materials emitted a toxic vapor that caused diseases such as malaria and cholera.
The word “malaria” is derived from the Italian mala aria (“bad air”). The vapors involved in the miasma theory were often related to marshes. A lot of decomposition was found in these humid regions and people who live near the marshes often get sick. The real cause? Mosquitoes like to lay their eggs near stagnant water found in marshes.
2.Tragedy
When you think of a tragic event, you probably don’t automatically think of goats. On the other hand, maybe yes. The ancient Greeks certainly did, and this is why “tragedy” is derived from the Greek words swallows and ears, which mean “goat’s song.” Some confusion surrounds the exact origins of this word. But the connection to goats seems to stem from plays involving satyrs, nature spirits that combine human and goat or horse characteristics. They are commonly seen in satyr plays. These plays often accompanied performances of tragic plays and tended to be dramatic but funny.
1.Candidate
Candidates running for political office today tend to be embroiled in scandals. In ancient Rome, they were draped in white robes. These garments were specially made to be very white, so the men who wore them were called candidate (“whitened men”), a term that comes from the Latin word candidus (“pure white”). Interestingly, this word is also the basis for the English word Candida, which is a type of persistent fungus that can be difficult to eliminate.
This is probably because the fungus itself is white and can grow too large on the tongue, forming white spots called canker sores. However, the connection between a pesky mushroom and politicians is certainly interesting enough to mention.
