September 13, 2017 | 2 Comments Language evolves over time. If we were able to converse with our ancestors from five or six generations removed, we would be quite surprised at how many words we use today, that they would not recognise. Conversely, words also fall out of use, and we would be equally bemused by some of the archaic vocabulary of our forefathers. With this in mind, I decided to look into the etymologies of a few everyday words, the origins of which I had hitherto never given a second thought. What follows, are some examples of word origins that I found particularly interesting. I hope you agree. There’s a fair chance that you may have a death contract. Yes, if you have an outstanding loan on a property that you are buying, I’m talking about you! The word mortgage is derived from French Law, and literally means death contract or pledge. Fortunately the death bit refers to the demise of the contract, upon either the final repayment, or seizure of the property through foreclosure, rather then to the expiration of the borrower. I am, however, reminded of one or two tightwads I have known down the years, who would probably have regarded snuffing it mid mortgage as something of a result! Today, when we hear the word avocado, we tend to think of a posh fruit. But it wasn’t always thus; oh no! Avocado derives from an Aztec word ahuacatl, the meaning of which is testicle. Presumably the Aztecs so named the fruit, because of its resemblance in shape rather than size. Anyone with avocado sized testicles would be in serious trouble! Ouch! A saboteur is someone who commits an act of sabotage, right? Well yes, except that the word originally meant something completely different. Today, sabotage means to deliberately obstruct or destroy, but the word started out, believe it or not, in footwear. Beginning life in 13th century France, sabots were wooden shoes, or clogs I suppose we would call them today. Compared to the more fashionable and expensive leather shoes, sabots were considered by the better off as the preserve of the oafish, peasant classes. People walking in wooden shoes tend to make a lot of noise, and the term saboter came to mean someone who walked noisily in sabots. Quite how we get from saboter, meaning noisy walker, to saboteur, meaning obstructor or destroyer, is not certain, but there is a good story that could explain it. The mechanisation of manual tasks, that resulted from the industrial revolution, was not universally welcomed. Whilst the rate of production increased significantly, and profits soared, the new industrial processes were less labour intensive, and so fewer people were required in the workplace. Understandably, workers were more than a little displeased at finding themselves to be surplus to requirements, and some decided to take matters into their own hands. Apparently, they threw their sabots into the mechanisms of the newfangled machines, in order to ‘clog’ them up and stop them from working. Hence the machinery was sabotaged! Unfortunately, there is no primary source historical evidence to verify this tale, but never let the truth get in the way of a good story, I always say! A Sabot Maker. Approximately one third of babies are delivered by caesarean section; but where does the name come from? Legend has it that Roman general and politician Julius Caesar was born this way, and that he is therefore the origin of the word caesarean. However, it is almost certain that his mother gave birth to him naturally. Under Roman law, the delivery of babies by way of cutting open the mother, was reserved either for women who had died in childbirth, or in order to save a child’s life, where severe complications had arisen during the delivery. There is , however, no evidence to suggest that any mother actually survived the procedure, and the mother of Julius Caesar, Aurelia Cotta, was still alive when her son reached adulthood. Indeed, the first known case of a woman surviving such a procedure, was not recorded until the sixteenth century, when a Swiss pig castrater used his skills on his wife to deliver their child in this way. So, if the word is not derived from Julius Caesar, then where did it come from? Well, it turns out that we were in the right neck of the woods all along. In Latin, the word caedo means “to cut”, and so it would appear that it does indeed come down to us from Roman times, it just derives from a humble verb. There is, however, one further complication, that could explain how the confusion with Julius Caesar has arisen. The Roman author Pliny the Elder, makes reference to someone named Caesar being born by caesarean section, but he is actually referring to a remote ancestor of the Roman general. Pliny goes on to say that he “was so named from his having been removed by an incision in his mother’s womb”. So it would appear that the whole thing may have been turned on its head. It is the name Caesar that derives from a caesarean birth, not the other way round! Julius Caesar Just before we leave the Roman era, the word addict meant slave in Latin. Today we use the word to refer to a person who has become a slave to something, rather than of someone. The word denim has its origin in the French city of Nimes. The cloth was originally called serge de Nimes, meaning fabric from Nimes. The word serge was quickly dropped, leaving just “de Nimes“. The word jeans is similarly derived from its place of origin, the Italian city of Genoa. Jumbo is thought to have been a west African word meaning elephant. In English, it came to mean something very big, only after an African elephant named Jumbo arrived at London Zoo in 1860. Sadly, Jumbo died as the result of a railway accident in 1885. He was being exercised, when he stumbled and fell onto train tracks, and was struck by a passing locomotive. Jumbo the Elephant Sources: https://www.phactual.com/the-unexpected-history-of-words-we-all-know/ http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/05/avocado-derives-from-a-word-meaning-testicle/ http://mentalfloss.com/article/50179/how-did-caesarean-sections-get-their-name http://list25.com/25-interesting-and-somewhat-strange-word-origins/