Are you an idiot? Before you answer Did you know that the word idiot comes from
ancient Greek and its original meaning meant anyone who is NOT a politician. I've got 21
common English words with surprising origins for you today. If you want to learn more then
stay tuned. Idiots welcome.
If you a freelancer you might be interested to know that the word comes from two words
"free" and "lance" and meant a free soldier, that is, one that was unattached to an army
but sold his skills with a lance.
Bankrupt comes from from Italian banca rotta,
literally "a broken bench,". Money lenders would set up their business on benches in
common areas to welcome the customers but when business was bad and the money lender
could no longer afford to lend money they broke his bench.
Sinister which means "giving the impression of something threatening or evil" comes from
the latin meaning "left-handed".
. a sycophant person who insincerely praises
important or powerful people in order to gain influence over them. It comes from Greek and
literally means someone who reveals figs. in the 6th century it was illegal to export
food, except olives, from the territory of Athens. Sometimes, people would try to smuggle
figs over the border. If someone denounced you as a fig-smuggler, he was a sykophantes
a "sikophantes" a fig revealer.
gung ho Is one of the few words in English that come from mandarin Chinese. In English
it means overly enthusiastic, especially about war. This is quite different from the original
Chinese words which mean "work together".
If you are an eavesdropper: You are somebody that secretly listens to other peoples' conversations.
The eavesdrop was originally a place next to a house and if you stood there you could
hear your neighbours talking.
The word muscle came into English from French and means little mice because apparently that's
what they look like.
this rather ugly bird from north America is called a Turkey in English - just like the
country. That's because it was brought to England by traders from North Africa then
ruled by the (Ottomans) the Turks. - Interestingly in French the bird is called "dinde" which
means "from India" although in this context "the India" they are referring is the New
World which they thought was the same thing. In Portugeuse it's called - "peru" but in Cambodian
and Gaelic it's called "a French chicken."
Avocado comes to English via Spanish from Nahuatl and means testicle.
These delicous vegetables are called Jerusalem artichokes: They have nothing to do with either
the city of Jerusalem or artichokes. They are the tubers of sunflower plants Jerusalem
is a corruption of the Italian for Sunflower "girasole" -. And artichoke
because the taste is a bit like an artichoke.
Next time you go into your favourite frachised coffee chain. You could order an Americano.
During the second world war when American soliders were stationed in Italy they found
the espresso too strong for their taste so they added hot water and it became known as
the Americano.
Sandwich is named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich and, around 1762. as the
story goes, he loved gambling in fact he loved it so much that he wouldn't take a break from
the gambling table even to eat. Instead he ordered his servant to bring him some salt
beef between slices of bread. But why isn't it called a Montagu? I think that's a much
better name.
To boycott means to refuse to buy from or do business with someone. Named after Capt.
Charles C. Boycott (1832-1897) an English landowner in Ireland who charged such high
rents they he was ....boycotted
These hairy things here at the side of the head are named after General Ambrose
Burnside 1824 - 1881.
This game is usually called football in England but in North America and Australia it's known
as soccer. In fact there are two types of football in England. The official names are
rugby football and Association football. Soccer is just an abbreviation of the word association.
A geek in early 20th century America was a sideshow freak at a circus. They were sometimes
referred to as "geek shows". The word itself, is derived from the word gek, which was a
Low German word which meant a fool.
Are you a luddite?
If you are someone who resists technology who prefers things the old fashioned way.
You might be called a Luddite. It's kind of the opposite of a geek. The original Luddites
were British textile workers in the early 19th century who objected to the increased
use of machines, which were taking their jobs. So they smashed the machines. The leader of
the group was Ned Ludd.
Do you drink alcohol? If you don't then you are "teetotal". The origin of this word comes
The Preston Temperance society who promoted the total abstinence of alcoholic beverages.
In 1833 one of there members was Richard Turner. He had a stammer (a speech impediment) and couldn't pronounce the
word "total" correctly iand n a speech he said "I will be tee- tee tee total abstinent for
ever and ever". And the word stuck.
This is a dandelion. The origin is from French "dent de lion" tooth of the lion. Do they
look like lions' teeth? You can decide.
To ostracize: This means to exclude someone
from a social group. It comes from Ancient Greek and it literally means is to ban somebody
from Athens for 10 years. Every year Greek citizens voted for the most unpopular person
and the winner or rather the loser had to leave the city but if he returned in less
than 10 years he was put to death.
It's lunchtime now so I'm going out to get a montagu and an Americano. Thank you for
watching more English language videos coming soon.