Comments on: Still in the fishbowl (2): ‘Mackerel’ http://blog.oup.com/2012/07/mackerel-word-origin-etymology/ Academic insights for the thinking world. Fri, 24 May 2013 00:55:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: OUPblog » Blog Archive » Do you ‘cuss’ your stars when you go ‘bust’? http://blog.oup.com/2012/07/mackerel-word-origin-etymology/#comment-291485 OUPblog » Blog Archive » Do you ‘cuss’ your stars when you go ‘bust’? Wed, 05 Sep 2012 15:36:02 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=26390#comment-291485 [...] similar case is the fish name bass. (I am very happy to return to the fish bowl.) All its cognates have r in the middle: Dutch baars, German Barsch, and so forth. The word is [...] [...] similar case is the fish name bass. (I am very happy to return to the fish bowl.) All its cognates have r in the middle: Dutch baars, German Barsch, and so forth. The word is [...]

]]> By: Compound Fractures: Holy Butts http://blog.oup.com/2012/07/mackerel-word-origin-etymology/#comment-285373 Compound Fractures: Holy Butts Tue, 07 Aug 2012 02:11:27 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=26390#comment-285373 [...] tradition of eating halibut on holy days. I’ve commented on Anatoly Liberman’s second excellent fishy post about this strange series of events.  I hope he responds. I hope he never reads it. I hope he [...] [...] tradition of eating halibut on holy days. I’ve commented on Anatoly Liberman’s second excellent fishy post about this strange series of events.  I hope he responds. I hope he never reads it. I hope he [...]

]]> By: Brianne Hughes http://blog.oup.com/2012/07/mackerel-word-origin-etymology/#comment-285102 Brianne Hughes Sat, 04 Aug 2012 18:16:50 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=26390#comment-285102 Hello! Thank you for writing this blog. I love it. I've been combing through old word lists this summer for verb-noun compounds in English, (Uhrstrom 1918, Teall 1892, Grose 1811), and I recently came across 'buttwoman.' I giggled, then I found out on oed.com that 'butt' is a word for certain types of fish, and that it shows up in 'halibut', its components perhaps meaning 'holy' and 'butt' (fish). More giggles. I don't want to cause you to grow gills with all of these fishy dives, but I'd like to know if you agree with the OED's 'holy' idea. Maybe its easier to nail down because it's associated with religion, or maybe harder to tell if 'holy' came as a folk etymology after its religious initiation. Talking about 'halibut' could be a good way to show civilians that etymology is not dry and serious. At least not for me. Hello! Thank you for writing this blog. I love it.

I’ve been combing through old word lists this summer for verb-noun compounds in English, (Uhrstrom 1918, Teall 1892, Grose 1811), and I recently came across ‘buttwoman.’ I giggled, then I found out on oed.com that ‘butt’ is a word for certain types of fish, and that it shows up in ‘halibut’, its components perhaps meaning ‘holy’ and ‘butt’ (fish). More giggles. I don’t want to cause you to grow gills with all of these fishy dives, but I’d like to know if you agree with the OED’s ‘holy’ idea. Maybe its easier to nail down because it’s associated with religion, or maybe harder to tell if ‘holy’ came as a folk etymology after its religious initiation.

Talking about ‘halibut’ could be a good way to show civilians that etymology is not dry and serious. At least not for me.

]]> By: Alice http://blog.oup.com/2012/07/mackerel-word-origin-etymology/#comment-282949 Alice Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:12:43 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=26390#comment-282949 Just a quick note that Steve Miller caught an error in the post: "When in the nineteen-sixties the decision was made to overhaul Webster’s derivations, ..." Eighteen-sixties is correct. We've amended the piece accordingly. -- Blog Editor Alice Just a quick note that Steve Miller caught an error in the post: “When in the nineteen-sixties the decision was made to overhaul Webster’s derivations, …”

Eighteen-sixties is correct.

We’ve amended the piece accordingly.

– Blog Editor Alice

]]> By: John Cowan http://blog.oup.com/2012/07/mackerel-word-origin-etymology/#comment-282775 John Cowan Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:24:15 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=26390#comment-282775 If someone asked you for such a quotation, you could reply "Holy mackerel!" If someone asked you for such a quotation, you could reply “Holy mackerel!”

]]> By: Yewtree http://blog.oup.com/2012/07/mackerel-word-origin-etymology/#comment-282762 Yewtree Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:17:42 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=26390#comment-282762 Vair, in heraldry, refers to a variegated pattern: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vair Vair, in heraldry, refers to a variegated pattern: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vair

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