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Lexicographer, author and Dictionary Corner resident Susie Dent has been studying words to make us feel happy. She brings etymologies concerning cows, gas, guts and fat, of bellies and breathing and bonanzas. And some that came from the high seas and aren't made up!
EXTRA MATERIALS:
The Milwaukee airport recombobulation areas…
…Winners of the most creative word of the year 2008!
More on possible combobulation etymologies.
“More than once, Helmont concluded that he was the ‘inventor’ of gas.”
“Hardly anyone who uses unruly realises that it was originally formed as the opposite of ruly.”
SeaTalk Nautical Dictionary lists a whole lot of real maritime vocab.
“Of some slight surprise, perhaps, is that inspire also shares a portion of its history with flatulent. While the two words do not have a common ancestor, they do both come from Latin words dealing with exhalations of air (flatulent comes from the Latin flare, “to blow, breathe”). Flare also serves as the basis for a synonym of inspiration, which is afflatus.”
“The ancient Romans were, to put it mildly, a superstitious bunch. Their calendar was peppered with various “dies atri” – “dark” or “black” days when it was considered unwise to embark on any new task, sacrifice to the gods or celebrate a religious rite.”
“Sanskrit uses the terms akasha and prana (breath). Similarly, both the Scandinavian languages and the Chinese language uses the term "breath" to refer to the spirit.”
Otherlusionists: hear Susie talk about errors that became longterm fixtures in english in To Err Is Human; there’s a bit more about the etymology of ‘nice’ in Hedge Rider; there’s a little bit about the etymology of ‘chaos’ at the start of the Generation What episode; and another non-false nautical etymology, ‘log in’, in Fix part 1.
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YOUR RANDOMLY SELECTED WORD FROM THE DICTIONARY:
spifflicate, also spiflicate: verb, informal/humorous: destroy or defeat utterly.
Derivatives: spifflication, noun.
Origin 18th century: a fanciful formation.
CREDITS:
Susie Dent is a lexicographer, Countdown’s Dictionary Corner stalwart, cohost of the language podcast Something Rhymes with Purple, and author of many books. She has two new ones out: Interesting Stories About Curious Words: From Stealing Thunder to Red Herrings and Roots of Happiness: 100 Words for Joy and Hope.
This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. The Allusionist music is by Martin Austwick. Download his songs at palebirdmusic.com and listen to his podcasts Song By Song and Neutrino Watch.
Find the Allusionist at youtube.com/allusionistshow, twitter.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow, @allusionistshow.bsky.social and instagram.com/allusionistshow
