#etymology
Questions about “etymology”.
67 articles
What is the original song behind Japan’s “Hotaru no Hikari”?
In Japan, it’s the farewell tune of graduation ceremonies and the music that tells shoppers the store is closing. Across the sea, though, it is sung on a very different occasion.
Why is a sun shower called a “fox’s wedding” in Japanese?
Under a blue sky, a few drops of rain come pattering down. Faced with that odd sight, people in Japan long ago somehow pictured a wedding of foxes.
Where does the Japanese phrase “ichika bachika” come from?
Japanese speakers say it when they leave everything to luck. But why “one” and “eight”? Why not two, or seven? The answer leads into the gambling dens of old Edo.
When was zero discovered?
Zero, the number for nothing at all, seems utterly obvious. Yet it took humanity a very long time to get hold of it.
Does the word “salary” really come from salt?
“Roman soldiers were paid in salt.” It’s a trivia classic, but trace it back through the ancient records and a rather different picture emerges.
Is the Japanese word “hotchikisu” named after a person?
The desktop tool that snaps papers together has a Japanese name no English speaker would recognize. And a famous story about an inventor goes with it. But is it true?
Did Picasso really have an extremely long name?
The name of the 20th century’s defining painter is just three syllables. But read out the official name in the church records, and you can’t get through it in one breath.
Where does the word “OK” come from?
“OK” is one of the most widely understood words on Earth. It started out as a bit of wordplay among nineteenth-century newspapermen.
Who coined the word “robot”?
Robots are at work everywhere from factories to outer space. Their name was born about a century ago, in an offhand exchange between two brothers.
How long have people been eating natto?
Those sticky, stringy beans are a Japanese breakfast staple. Ask where they came from, and famous warriors and saints start turning up. How far can we trust them?
Where does the term “hat-trick” come from?
When a soccer player scores three goals in a game, it is a hat-trick. But what does a hat have to do with it? The answer lies in a different sport altogether.
Where does the Japanese word “sayōnara” come from?
A goodbye Japanese children learn almost before anything else. One foreign writer called it the most beautiful farewell she had ever heard anywhere in the world.
Why is tennis scored 15, 30, 40?
Not 1, 2, 3, but 15, 30 and then 40. Behind tennis’s puzzling way of keeping score lies a mystery nearly 600 years old.
Where does the word “hamburger” come from?
Cheeseburger, fishburger: “burger” now works like a dish name of its own. Trace the word back, though, and it has nothing to do with ham, or with buns.
Is the word “jeans” named after a city?
Tough blue trousers that seem to hang in every closet. Trace their name, and the name of their fabric, and an old map of Europe unfolds.
Why do magnets stick to things?
A magnet clings to the fridge door yet ignores aluminum cans and copper coins. How does a magnet choose what it sticks to?
Where did Japanese hiragana and katakana come from?
Japanese is written with two sets of kana that stand for the same sounds. Why would anyone need two differently shaped scripts for the same job?
Was the word “quiz” really invented for a bet?
A Dublin theater owner bets he can make a meaningless word catch on in no time. That is the famous origin story of “quiz.” The records tell a different tale.
Does the Japanese word “saboru” come from French?
To “saboru” a class or a day at work. The word looks thoroughly Japanese, yet it spread about 100 years ago, sparked by one particular event.
Where does the baseball term “strike” come from?
A batter lets a pitch go by without moving the bat, and it’s still a “strike.” That odd little word preserves the easygoing ways of 19th-century baseball.
Was sushi originally a way to preserve fish?
Fresh fish, vinegared rice, a single piece shaped by a chef’s hands. Hard to imagine today, but sushi over a thousand years ago was a completely different dish.
Is the Japanese word “pan” for bread Portuguese?
Toast for breakfast, a sandwich at lunch: in Japan it is all “pan.” Say that in an English-speaking country and you’ll get blank looks. Where did the word come from?
Was “escalator” originally a brand name?
We ride them every day in stations and department stores. But when, and by whom, was the name of this moving staircase coined?
Where did ramen come from?
Ever heard that the first person in Japan to eat ramen was a famous feudal lord? In recent years, records have turned up that go back even further.
How old is the Japanese word “yabai”?
“Yabai” is often held up as the ultimate youth slang. But leaf through old books and you find this word’s ancestor in a most unexpected era.
Where does the word “shampoo” come from?
We use shampoo almost every day. In Japanese the word is a loan from English, but trace it back and you end up in India. And at first it didn’t even mean washing hair.
When did Japanese people start saying “itadakimasu” before meals?
Hands together: “itadakimasu.” It feels like a Japanese tradition centuries old, but trace its history and a surprising picture emerges.
Where does the Japanese word “baka” come from?
From playground squabbles to doting parents, Japanese speakers hear it daily. In kanji it is oddly written “horse” and “deer.” What did those animals do?
Where does the Japanese word “zubon” (trousers) come from?
Japanese speakers wear “zubon” every day without knowing what language the word comes from. Look into it, and a small mystery with a petticoat awaits.
Where does the Japanese word “arigatō” come from?
Japanese speakers say “arigatō” many times a day. Yet the word originally expressed something quite different from gratitude.
Is the Japanese word “arubaito” German?
Convenience stores, restaurants, tutoring: almost everyone in Japan works a “baito” at some point. Yet the word has an unusual backstory for a Japanese loanword.
Did tempura come from Portugal?
Tempura is a star of Japanese cuisine, yet its name sounds oddly un-Japanese. Its roots lead to Portuguese ships and a misunderstanding about a shogun’s death.
Does “Wi-Fi” actually mean anything?
We say “Wi-Fi” almost every day, and many of us assume it is short for something. One of the people who was there when it was named gives a surprising answer.
Why do Japanese people say “moshi moshi” twice on the phone?
Japanese speakers answer the phone with “moshi moshi” almost without thinking. But why twice? The trail leads to Meiji-era phone exchanges and a fox legend.
Where do the names “do, re, mi” come from?
Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti: almost everyone learns these seven syllables in music class. But where did the names actually come from?
Why is table tennis called “ping-pong”?
Played in hotel game rooms and at the Olympics alike, table tennis has a friendlier second name. Behind it lies a surprising story about who owned a word.
What did “goodbye” (Japanese “gubbai”) originally mean?
Japanese speakers know “goodbye” as gubbai. Taken apart, it seems to be “good” plus “bye”—but what exactly is good? The word, it turns out, once looked completely different.
What did the Japanese word “dōmo” originally mean?
It works as a thank-you, an apology, or a quick nod in passing. Yet on its own, “dōmo” doesn’t actually say what it is you mean.
Is the Japanese word “donmai” made-in-Japan English?
It’s what Japanese teammates shout after a mistake. It sounds like English, but shout it in an English-speaking country and it may not land as you expect.
Where does the Japanese word “ohayō” come from?
It’s the shortest greeting of the day. Yet this word, heard even in workplaces at night, may not have started out as a morning word at all.
Why is the Milky Way called a “river” in Japan?
Looking up at the same band of light, some peoples pictured a river and others spilled milk. The names we give the night sky reflect the stories of those who gaze at it.
When did curry arrive in Japan?
Curry rice is a favorite of Japanese kids and adults alike. But Japan’s very first published recipe lists an ingredient you would never expect.
Is pencil lead made of lead?
We call it “lead,” and the Japanese word for pencil contains the character for lead. But trace that black core back and you reach 16th-century English shepherds.
Who wrote the Iroha poem?
The Iroha is a poem that uses every Japanese kana sound exactly once. For centuries it was attributed to one famous monk. Does that story hold up?
Was the croissant born in France?
Few things say “Paris morning” like this crescent pastry. Trace its family tree, though, and you meet a legendary siege of Vienna and a former officer’s bakery.
What is the G string in “Air on the G String”?
Bach’s serene melody turns up at weddings and in commercials. But what exactly is the “G string” in its title, and why did it end up in the name at all?
What does the “short” in shortcake mean?
In Japan, the strawberry cake is a fixture of birthdays and Christmas. But is the “short” in its name about size? A dictionary turns up an unexpected answer.
Was carbonara really a charcoal burners’ dish?
Egg, cheese and black pepper: Rome’s famous pasta carries a name that means “charcoal burner.” Follow that name back, and some unexpected people and times come into view.
How long has soy sauce been around in Japan?
Sashimi, simmered dishes, rice with raw egg: none would be the same without it. Its story leads to a legendary Zen monk and the Dutch ships that took it abroad.
Did the Romans really have a “vomitorium” for throwing up?
Stuffed at a banquet, you slip off to a special room, empty your stomach, and go back for more. A famous tale of Roman excess hides a surprising trap.
When was the zipper invented?
Jackets, bags, pencil cases: we open and close zippers almost every day. Getting this little mechanism right took more than 20 years of trial and error.
What was Vermeer’s blue made from?
That deep, clear blue is one of the first things people notice in Vermeer’s paintings. Where did a seventeenth-century Dutch painter get it? The journey starts in mountains far to the east.
Did people use bread as an eraser before rubber?
Make a mistake, and you rub it out with an eraser. It seems obvious today, but people once made do with something from the kitchen table.
Is the Japanese word “boikotto” really someone’s name?
Athletes boycott tournaments; shoppers boycott products. The word is just as familiar in Japanese, and it began with something that happened one autumn in 19th-century Ireland.
Why was volleyball invented?
Volleyball is a school gym staple the world over. Yet it was not dreamed up for energetic young athletes at all, but for a very different crowd. The story begins in the US about 130 years ago.
Where does the name “mayonnaise” come from?
Mayonnaise goes on everything from salads to okonomiyaki. Trace its name and you reach the story of a war, or so it is said. But the tale is not quite that simple.
Why is a square boxing ring called a ring?
A boxing ring is plainly a square, yet a “ring” is a circle. The mismatch between shape and name goes back more than 200 years.
Was hook-and-loop fastening inspired by a plant?
Shoes, bags, even blood pressure cuffs: we rip it open and press it shut every day. The idea behind this fastener was lying beside a country path.
Did the name “Impressionism” begin as an insult?
The bright paintings of Monet and Renoir are loved all over the world. Yet on the day their group got its name, a newspaper was laughing at their work.
What does the “shoku” in Japanese “shokupan” mean?
All bread is for eating, so why is only Japan’s square white loaf called “eating bread”? A name seen at breakfast tables every day turns out to be surprisingly hard to explain.
Where does the Japanese word “tasogare” come from?
Tasogare is a beautiful Japanese word for dusk. It is written with the characters for “yellow” and “dusk,” yet its sound has nothing to do with them. Trace it back and you reach a few words spoken in the half-light.
Why did samurai wear the chonmage topknot?
The familiar samurai hairstyle from period dramas: the top of the head shaved, the rest tied into a topknot. Come to think of it, why shave just part of your head?
Where do figure skating jump names come from?
Axel, Lutz, Salchow. The jump names you hear in every figure skating broadcast have a slightly odd ring to them. As it turns out, most of them share something in common.
Where does the Japanese phrase “pin kara kiri made” come from?
Japanese speakers use “pin” and “kiri” all the time, yet both are written in katakana and few can say what they mean. In fact, neither may have started out as Japanese at all.
Where does the Japanese word “taifū” come from?
Typhoons strike Japan almost every year. But why is the Japanese word written with the character 台, meaning “stand” or “platform”? Follow a word on its long voyage back and forth across the seas.
Did ketchup start out as fish sauce?
It goes on fries, burgers and Japanese omelet rice alike. But follow the name of this red sauce back far enough and you reach a condiment that looks nothing like tomatoes.
When did the rank of yokozuna begin?
Yokozuna is the summit of professional sumo. Today it is the highest rank on the ladder, yet it started out as something that was not a rank at all: a single rope.