Oxford Etymologist

Unable to Put the Kibosh on a Hard Word

The young Dickens was the first to record the word kibosh. We don’t know for sure how it sounded in the 1830’s, but, judging by the spelling ky(e)-, it must always have been pronounced with long i. The main 19th-century English etymologists (Eduard Mueller, Hensleigh Wedgwood, and Walter W. Skeat) did not include kibosh in their dictionaries. They probably had nothing to say about it, though Mueller, a German, hardly ever saw such a rare and insignificant word.

Old Slang: Rogue

Slang words are so hard to etymologize because they are usually isolated, while language historians prefer to work with sound correspondences, cognates, and protoforms. Most modern “thick” dictionaries tell us that rogue, the subject of this post, is of unknown origin. This conclusion could be expected, for rogue, a 16th-century creation, meant “a wandering mendicant.” (Skeat attributes the original sense “a surly fellow” to it but does not adduce sufficient evidence in support of his statement.)

Yes, Your Wash-Up

The title is from The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (wash-up is the way one of the characters pronounces worship), but I owe the idea of this post to two questions. I decided not to wait for the next set of “gleanings,” because my summer schedule will prevent me from answering questions and responding to comments with the regularity one could wish for. Both questions concern Engl. r.

Monthly Gleanings: April 2010

I notice that my posts on usage, including spelling, invite livelier comments than those on word origins, and most questions I receive also concern usage. This is natural, and, as always, I am grateful for questions, suggestions, and criticism. Today I will take care of about half of my backlog but will try to get rid of the other half in May.

The Oddest English Spellings, Part 16: Wistful Whistplayers and Other Wherry Important Words

By Anatoly Liberman

The number of people in the English speaking world who distinguish in pronunciation between witch and which, wine and whine, wen and when is relatively small, and those who make this distinction do not say w-hitch, w-hine, and w-hen, but rather hwitch, hwine, and hwen. What follows is a breathtaking story of the hw-sound and the wh-spelling.

To Love, To Praise; To Promise, To Permit

Anatoly Liberman’s weekly column.

Between Dodge and Kitsch

Anatoly Liberman looks at the words “dodge” and “kitsch”.

Monthly Gleanings: March 2010

Anatoly Liberman answers questions.

A Postscript to the Series on Unpleasant People: Humbug

Anatoly Liberman looks at the word “humbug”.

Unpleasant People
Part 3: Swindler

For the third part of his Unpleasant People series, Anatoly Liberman discusses the recent origins of the word swindler.

Unpleasant People. Part 2: Scoundrel

In this post, the second part in his Unpleasant People series, Anatoly Liberman considers the word “Scoundrel.”

Unpleasant People.
Part 1: Culprit

Anatoly Liberman discusses the word “culprit” as the first part of his Unpleasant People series.

Monthly Gleanings: February 2010

Anatoly Liberman ponders what he learned this month, “especially” the “buzzword” “neologist.”

Squeamish Between Native Soil,
Scandinavia, and France

Anatoly Liberman discusses the origins of the word “squeamish.”

The Dubious History of Pun (Pun Among Other Pungent Words)

Anatoly Liberman examines the origins and meanings of the word “pun.”

Dross, Dregs, Trash, and Other Important Substances
Part 3: Trash

Anatoly Liberman looks at the word “trash”.