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 Author | Topic: Mysterious words (Read 2,385 times) |
kerouac2
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|  | Mysterious words
« Thread Started on Sept 23, 2009, 7:57pm » | ![[Quote]](http://images.proboards.com/buttons/quote.gif "[Quote]") |
I was thinking of this because some words sound like they are of easily identifiable foreign origin, but if you look them up, they are something completely different.
When I looked up "cahoots" I was very surprised at the explanations, because I had already decided that it must be some sort of "New Amsterdam" word of Dutch origin that had originated in New York.
At the moment, I am wondering about "goo" -- not having looked it up yet. My first thought is of some sort of onomatopoeia, based on the idea of saying "Eww!" when you see goo. But I'm sure that's not it.
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lola
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #1 on Sept 23, 2009, 8:13pm » | |
Now you're going to make us look them up, too.
Hooligan. (not you, K. Another oo word to look up)
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kerouac2
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #2 on Sept 23, 2009, 8:15pm » | |
All of the "oo" words make me think "Dutch."
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #3 on Sept 23, 2009, 9:35pm » | |
How about hoosegow? With my vast knowledge of pretty much everything, I can tell you that it's simply a sloppy pronunciation* of the Spanish word "juzgado", meaning court (from the verb juzgar, to judge). You can imagine in the American old West, it was a short hop from wherever court was held to the jailhouse or hoosegow.
*many accents in Spanish drop the d in words ending in -ado, rendering that ending as ow instead of ahdoh.
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kerouac2
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #4 on Sept 24, 2009, 5:31am » | |
Well, I looked up "goo" and it said "perhaps short for burgoo" which was another way of telling me "you're an ignorant person with a limited vocabulary."
So I looked up "burgoo" and it says:
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: 1700
1 : oatmeal gruel
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #5 on Sept 24, 2009, 5:36am » | |
Eh? Isn't there something called "Kentucky burgoo", which is squirrel stew, maybe? At any rate, something better than gruel.
*goes off to look it up*
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #6 on Sept 24, 2009, 5:42am » | |
god, I'm good!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgoo
Okay, gruel = goo ......... could be, but it's disgraceful that the dictionary simply makes a guess and lets it go at that.  The guess is also undermined by another dictionary saying it's an Americanism from @1905--1915. Why would an Americanism reference an obscure Royal Navy food term?
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kerouac2
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #7 on Jan 13, 2010, 11:15pm » | |
Why is there a "w" in "two"?
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hwinpp
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #8 on Jan 14, 2010, 6:09am » | |
Related to German 'zwei', Dutch 'twee'. While the Germans and Dutch still pronounce it, English speakers don't.
No idea about a more academic explanation.
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kimby
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #9 on Jan 14, 2010, 6:47am » | |
Why are there two ue's in "queue" and what is the origin of that word, which pretty much isn't used in the states, although American DJs do "cue up" a record album. (Or am I just imagining the spelling with a "c")
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #10 on Jan 14, 2010, 7:15am » | |
In the great tradition of this thread, which allows one to make a fool of oneself before looking something up, I say that "cue" is a completely different word from "queue", apart from the obvious spelling difference. For instance, an actor can be told, "that's your cue", or I use the salad fork at the dinner party because "I took my cue from you".
Thus, any song in a sequence would be in a queue, not a cue, correct? Or is my face covered in egg, and not just because I didn't get bread while in the queue for the breakfast buffet?
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kimby
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #11 on Jan 14, 2010, 8:50am » | |
wow, I'm surprised to find on googling "cue up" that I'm righter than bixa on this one!
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cue
cue n.
1. A signal, such as a word or action, used to prompt another event in a performance, such as an actor's speech or entrance, a change in lighting, or a sound effect.
2. a. A reminder or prompting.
b. A hint or suggestion.
3. Music a. An extract from the music for another part printed, usually in smaller notes, within a performer's part as a signal to enter after a long rest.
b. A gesture by a conductor signaling the entrance of a performer or part.
4. Psychology A stimulus, either consciously or unconsciously perceived, that elicits or signals a type of behavior.
5. Archaic One's assigned role or function.
6. Archaic A mood; a disposition.
tr.v. cued, cu·ing, cues 1. To give a cue to; signal or prompt.
2. To insert into the sequence of a performance: cued the lights for the monologue scene.
3. To position (an audio or video recording) in readiness for playing: cue up a record on the turntable.
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #12 on Jan 14, 2010, 4:07pm » | |
![[image]](http://i46.tinypic.com/8yceur.jpg "[image]") Well, there you go then!
(don't know why you'd be surprised, Kimby  )
That is interesting. I would have gotten "cue the lights" wrong as well, thinking it meant the same as the first definition given above.
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traveler63
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #13 on Jan 14, 2010, 8:36pm » | |
It is all a mystery to me;
how about thee
to use words that you see
and then pronounce them differently !!!!!
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Don't grumble, give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best...
And...always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the light side of life.
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kerouac2
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #14 on Jan 15, 2010, 1:29am » | |
Queue is French for "tail" which is what a queue looks like.
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #15 on Jan 19, 2010, 5:24pm » | |
It's the same in Spanish -- "cola" or tail, is the word for queue.
Now that I've looked at Traveler63's lovely thread on the châteaux of the Loire Valley, and her explanation of Nonce, I am wondering if it has any relationship to the phrase "for the nonce", meaning "for the time being". I don't want to look it up until we've guessed (or someone actually knows  ). Does it have anything to do with the hours as counted by ancient monasteries -- terce, etc. (all I can remember). I think one of the hours is called nonce.
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spindrift
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #16 on Jan 19, 2010, 5:32pm » | |
I think that 'nonce' is an english jailbird word for 'pervert/rapist'....
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kerouac2
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #17 on Jan 19, 2010, 5:35pm » | |
I confess that I just looked up "boondoggle" so I know all about it now, but it was a mystery until that moment. But I am very satisfied to know that what I suspected was true -- the etymology is bogus!
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #18 on Jan 19, 2010, 5:51pm » | |
Jan 19, 2010, 5:32pm, spindrift wrote:| I think that 'nonce' is an english jailbird word for 'pervert/rapist'.... |
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Ick! So that means we might be looking at a minimum of three meanings for the same word.
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #20 on Jan 22, 2010, 12:39am » | |
More mysterious words, or in this case, initials. What is BE?
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fumobici
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #21 on Jan 22, 2010, 2:07am » | |
Sorry language forum-speak for British English, as opposed to American English.
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lagatta
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #22 on Jan 27, 2010, 8:17pm » | |
I thought everyone knew that. 
In Italian too: coda (tail) Il mio gatto Renzo ha una coda bellissima! but also queue: fare la coda, mettersi in coda: queue up.
As for "two", also think "twice".
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bixaorellana
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lola
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #24 on Jan 28, 2010, 1:05am » | |
I wondered about "taxi" today, as in cab.
Originally it was "taximeter cab" meaning there was a device that automatically figured the tax or charge for the ride.
(BTW, bing.com has a lovely photo of Buddha in the snow today)
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kerouac2
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #25 on Jan 28, 2010, 6:13am » | |
The term for all of the pay phones in boutiques for immigrants in France is "taxiphone". And that used to be how everybody called pay phones in general.
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #26 on Jan 28, 2010, 6:38pm » | |
Do y'all know what a "go cup" is? (the people to whom this term is commonplace should let the outlanders have a chance to reply!)
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kerouac2
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #27 on Jan 28, 2010, 6:41pm » | |
My first thought is something to pee in when there is an emergency. 
But actually, I think I just remembered what it really is.
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kimby
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| | Re: Mysterious words
« Reply #28 on Jan 28, 2010, 9:11pm » | |
what's an "outlander" bixa?
(I know what a "go cup" is, so I guess I'm not an outlander.)
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