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Issue 27 |
February 8, 1999 |
Melanie & Mike say... |
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| the only Weekly Word-origin Webzine | |
Issue 27 |
February 8, 1999 |
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Several readers inquired this week as to the phrase peanut gallery, and it seemed an appropriate time to examine it, especially with the impeachment trial in full swing! This term apparently arose and became popular in the late 19th century. It is a reference to the rear or uppermost seats in a theater, which were also the cheapest seats. People seated in such a gallery were able to throw peanuts (a common food at theaters and other venues of the time) at those seated below them. It also applied to the first row of seats in a movie theater, for the occupants of those seats could throw peanuts at the stage. The sense here is one of the uneducated throwing peanuts to communicate their displeasure with a performance (and later, a film), and the perceived insignificance of such criticism. Presumably, the Republicans believe almost everyone is a member of the peanut gallery where the impeachment trial is concerned!
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From Claude Venandet:
English weapon comes from Old English wæpen "instrument used in fighting", which dates from the early 8th century, at least. By 1175 it was wepen. It has many Germanic language cognates: Old Frisian wepin, Old Saxon wapan, Middle Dutch wapen (modern Dutch wapen), Old High German waffan (modern German waffe), Old Icelandic vapn (and its modern descendants are Swedish vapen, Norwegian våpen, and Danish våben), and Gothic wepna, all derived from Proto Germanic *wæpnam. The -oon ending of harpoon arises from a phenomenon of English where accented French -on endings are emphasized by the double o (other examples are balloon, cartoon, etc.). Harpoon itself is thought to have its roots in Greek harpagón "grappling hook" via Latin and, finally, Old French (harpon). If you read last week's column you know that waffe and waffle are not related, by the way.
From Tadaaki Hiruki:
The w The best explanation we've seen for this word's source is that it comes from the dialectical camp "impetuous, uncouth person", which derives from the British dialectical kemp "impetuous or roguish young man". The latter is perhaps related to champion, which itself comes from the other camp "group of shelters". That word comes ultimately from Latin campus "field of battle". Another suggestion is that camp comes from the French verb camper, "to pose". While this sounds very appropriate there is no actual evidence for it.
From Barry Lass:
Smoked herring (early 14th century), which is strong-smelling and reddish in color, was used to train dogs to follow a scent, and it was also used to throw them off the scent. The term red herring (late 17th century) was used initially in reference to diverting hounds from their quarry, and then in the late 19th century it took on the more metaphorical meaning that it has today.
From Eric Holt :
You are quite correct. English borrowed cretin from the French word crétin in 1779. It comes from an earlier word, cretin, which meant "Christian" in the (French) dialects of Valais and Savoie (compare the standard French word, chrétien). Its ultimate source is the Latin christianus, "Christian". While the original meaning of cretin was, literally, "Christian", the word "Christian" was not being used as we would use it today. In our pluralistic, multi-cultural society, we recognize Christianity to be just one of many competing belief systems. Thus, to say that someone is a Christian is to state that s/he is not a Buddhist, a Marxist, a Hindu or a Jew. This seems rather obvious to us, doesn't it? Yet this wasn't quite how the word was understood by the medieval inhabitants of remote Alpine valleys. From their limited and parochial perspective it seemed that everyone in the world was Christian. Thus, the word became synonymous with "human being". Due to the lack of iodine in the medieval Alpine diet, certain regions of Switzerland were prone to severe thyroid problems, such as goiter and congenital idiocy. The local priests, moved by compassion for these poor imbeciles, encouraged the populace to treat them kindly. They deserved pity, it was said, because they were, at least, Christians (i.e. "human beings"). We must admit that we were quite surprised to find that the word Christian itself was not used in English until 1526. How did English-speaking Christians refer to themselves before that date? Did they not need such a word before they came into contact with non-Christians?
From Serge Lemay:
I'm sorry, we can't remember where your wife read something about the meaning of caribou, either. But seriously, if it's the meaning you want then a caribou is a Rangifer tarandus, a species of large, gregarious deer of the Holarctic taiga and tundra. It is the only species of deer of which both sexes have antlers. (Don't you think "Holarctic taiga" is a splendid phrase? We intend to insert it into casual conversation whenever possible.)
Given that domesticated reindeer are sometimes harnessed to haul sleds, one might be forgiven for assuming that reindeer means simply a deer which is reined. Actually, the rein portion of its name comes from the Old Norse hreinn which itself means reindeer. The deer part is somewhat misleading, too. In the 14th century, when this word first appeared, deer simply meant "animal". Even as late as the early 17th century we find the phrase "rats, mice and other such small deer" in Shakespeare's "King Lear".
From Gregory J. Dulmes:
Our guess is that Citizen Paine meant that the English word prophet did not accurately translate some Hebrew word. As to what that word might have been or whether his assertion is correct we really aren't qualified to say. Whatever the meaning of the original Hebrew, the English word has remained pretty stable over its history. Its earliest form is the Greek prophetes (pro, "for" + phanai, "to speak"), one who "speaks for [the gods]". This became propheta in Latin, then prophete in Old French before entering Middle English sometime in the 12th century.
From John:
Hmm... the "total history", eh? It's a good job you added that — otherwise we might have told you only that it's a noun formed from the verb to believe. This is quite an old word as it goes all the way back to the Middle English belevan (11th century) which, in turn, derives from the Old English verb belefan (from be-, "about" + lyfan or lefan, "to allow", "to believe"). An earlier Old English form of belefan was gelefan, which reveals its relation to the Old High German gilouben, "to believe". It is worthy of note that this lyfan (or lefan) is related to the Old English words leof, "dear", and lufu, "love" as they all belong to a group of words which are thought to have evolved from the hypothetical Indo-European root *leubh-. Apart from love, the only other *leubh- word in Modern English is quodlibet, the delightfully pompous musical term for a pop tune. It is formed from the Latin quod libet, literally "that which is liked".
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Comments, additions? Send to
Melanie & Mike: melmike@takeourword.com
Copyright © 1995-1999 mc² creations
Last Updated 01/25/04 05:37 PM
ord camp arose as an
adjective in about 1909 with the meaning "having exaggerated actions or
gestures" and it was especially applied to homosexuals. By 1931 camp the
noun arose as a synonym for "homosexual". In 1964 the American writer Susan
Sontag co-opted the word from the gay vocabulary and created two new terms, high camp
and low camp and became a literary celebrity by explaining a gay aesthetic to
straight culturati. High camp signified sophisticated, tongue-in-cheek wit which
is archly self-aware. Low camp, on the other hand, was applied to anything which
amused by reason of its lack of sophistication and self-awareness.