Post by account_disabled on Feb 11, 2024 11:38:07 GMT
across the globe, forged through a millennia of invasions, wars, colonial expansion and scientific and cultural developments. Out of an estimated 750,000 words, we’ve already identified the most beautiful, the funniest and the weirdest – but which English words have the strangest origins? 1. Sandwich Sandwiches get their (strange) name from the 4th Earl of Sandwich, an 18th century English politician and nobleman. The circumstances of Lord Sandwich’s supposed invention of the sandwich is a subject of hot
debate among linguists. Some believe he consumed his food between two pieces Belgium Telemarketing Data bread so he didn’t have to leave his beloved gambling table, and that his fellow gamblers began to ask the servants for “the same as Sandwich” and, later, just “a sandwich”. Others (those who are perhaps more respectful of Lord Sandwich’s work) believe he ate food in this fashion and attend to his political commitments. 2. Clue Technically, English speakers stole this from the Greek Gods. It is
taken from the word ‘clew’ In Greek mythology. When Mintatour – a monster with the body of a man and a head of a bull – trapped the mythical king, Theseus, in a labyrinth, Theseus is said to have escaped using a ball of yarn or a ‘clew’. He used the yarn to track his path so he could follow it back again if he got lost. So, a “clew” came to mean something that guides your path, and later it came to mean this in the broader sense of offering guidance to discover a truth. 3. Hooligan We have many words for troublemakers in English: ruffian, thug, hoodlum, yob, chav, lout… The list is endless. Each word not only has its own nuanced meaning, but also often suggests something about which region of the UK the speaker comes from. But if you’re called a hooligan,
debate among linguists. Some believe he consumed his food between two pieces Belgium Telemarketing Data bread so he didn’t have to leave his beloved gambling table, and that his fellow gamblers began to ask the servants for “the same as Sandwich” and, later, just “a sandwich”. Others (those who are perhaps more respectful of Lord Sandwich’s work) believe he ate food in this fashion and attend to his political commitments. 2. Clue Technically, English speakers stole this from the Greek Gods. It is
taken from the word ‘clew’ In Greek mythology. When Mintatour – a monster with the body of a man and a head of a bull – trapped the mythical king, Theseus, in a labyrinth, Theseus is said to have escaped using a ball of yarn or a ‘clew’. He used the yarn to track his path so he could follow it back again if he got lost. So, a “clew” came to mean something that guides your path, and later it came to mean this in the broader sense of offering guidance to discover a truth. 3. Hooligan We have many words for troublemakers in English: ruffian, thug, hoodlum, yob, chav, lout… The list is endless. Each word not only has its own nuanced meaning, but also often suggests something about which region of the UK the speaker comes from. But if you’re called a hooligan,