- Hello everyone and welcome back to English with Lucy.
Today I've got a video about a brand new subject.
I'm going to talk to you about etymology.
So etymology is the history of a word
and then its historical development
It's basically like the timeline of a word.
So you see where it originated from.
And then you can see how it evolved
It's something really, really interesting.
Often when I learn a new word,
I'll definitely look up its etymology
to see which language it originates from,
it's something a bit nerdy that I do.
It's something that I get a lot of joy from.
Let me know if you get any joy from doing stuff like that.
So today, I've picked ten words with really interesting
origins and I'm going to chat about them with you.
In the hope that it will inspire you to study
a little bit more about the origin of words.
help you improve your english.
So a sandwich, food between two slices of bread.
It's the most common lunch time food in England.
Fun fact though, I don't really like bread.
The reason that I don't like it,
I just don't see the point in it.
the bread dilutes the flavour of the filling so yeah,
Yeah.
So sandwich, sandwiches actually get their name
from a man called John Montague
who was the fourth earl of Sandwich.
So he was an 18th century aristocrat
and he used to like to eat his meals
He liked to play games like cards.
And he didn't want to get all the pieces
and cards dirty with his greasy fingers,
so he used to ask for beef between two slices of bread.
And it caught on with his friends.
I'll have what Sandwich is having.
And in the end it got shortened down to just a sandwich
and it's the food that we know and love today.
I just know it, don't love it.
Yeah, so there is actually a place
which sounds like a really bizarre name,
but actually, that's where the food originates from.
Okay, the next one I think is really interesting.
And it comes from Latin to not know
or ignorance but then over time it started
to be used to describe things as agreeable, then delightful.
Nowadays we use it mostly as a positive adjective.
This actually comes from the Latin word mus for mouse.
And basically people used to think
that muscles looked like little mice under your skin.
So that's where the word muscle comes from.
This actually comes from the Latin word to devote
or to surrender yourself to something
So by saying you're an addict,
you're saying you're a slave to something.
Which is quite accurate really.
It comes from clew, sounds the same, different spelling.
Which meant in old English, a ball of thread.
This is because a ball of thread could be used
to guide somebody out of a maze or a labyrinth.
So that is where clue comes from.
That is a good word, isn't it?
And jargon comes from the old, old French word, jargoun.
Hope I've said that correctly.
Meaning twittering like birds.
So basically, when someone's using a lot of jargon,
they're twittering like birds,
it's not really understandable,
and they're saying a load of rubbish.
Okay, the next one, this could be considered
a little bit rude, the next one is avocado,
and it comes from the Aztec word,
wonder if I can say, ahuakatl.
But this basically meant, testicle,
So, avocados are sort of similar shapes.
Obviously, you can see a sort of resemblance
in shape and texture between an avocado
And also, they are considered to be aphrodisiacs,
So, that is where the word avocado comes from.
Whisky, that drink that I just cannot seem to like.
I always accept it when it's offered to me
and say yes, on the rocks please.
And then, ugh, no, can't do it.
Fag butts, it tastes like fag butts.
Well whisky, is actually shortened from
a whisky bay, and that comes from the old English word,
usquebaugh, which is derived from two Gaelic words,
uisce, meaning water, bethu meaning life.
So, they're saying that whisky is water of life.
Which I think some would consider to be very accurate.
Not me, I think it's actually the taker of life.
The next one is the word vagina.
And this word is derived from the Latin word
for sheath, or scabbard, the thing that would cover a sword.
And the word gladius, which means sword,
to the male sex organ, the penis.
So, the vagina, the sheath, covered the sword, the gladius.
This comes from the Greek word oxus,
meaning sharp and moros, meaning blunt.
So, sharp blunt, the word itself is an oxymoron.
Right, that's it for today's lesson.
I know it was a little bit different,
but I just kind of wanted to share one
of my passions with you which is etymology
and just where words come from.
I find it really, really interesting and I think it,
if you start to take etymology and the origin
you can really quickly expand your vocabulary
and you can learn to speak in a more meaningful way as well.
Don't forget to connect with me on all of my social media.
I've got my Facebook, Instagram, and my Twitter,
and I will see you soon for another lesson.
(kiss)