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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2009 19:57:14 GMT
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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Post by lola on Sept 23, 2009 20:13:30 GMT
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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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2009 20:15:11 GMT
All of the "oo" words make me think "Dutch."
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 23, 2009 21:35:26 GMT
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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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2009 5:31:34 GMT
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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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 24, 2009 5:36:14 GMT
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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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 24, 2009 5:42:59 GMT
god, I'm good!en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BurgooOkay, 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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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2010 23:15:21 GMT
Why is there a "w" in "two"?
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Post by hwinpp on Jan 14, 2010 6:09:17 GMT
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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Post by Kimby on Jan 14, 2010 6:47:55 GMT
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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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 14, 2010 7:15:53 GMT
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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Post by Kimby on Jan 14, 2010 8:50:36 GMT
wow, I'm surprised to find on googling "cue up" that I'm righter than bixa on this one! www.thefreedictionary.com/cuecue 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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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 14, 2010 16:07:10 GMT
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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Post by traveler63 on Jan 14, 2010 20:36:25 GMT
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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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2010 1:29:49 GMT
Queue is French for "tail" which is what a queue looks like.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 19, 2010 17:24:30 GMT
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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Post by spindrift on Jan 19, 2010 17:32:31 GMT
I think that 'nonce' is an english jailbird word for 'pervert/rapist'....
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2010 17:35:38 GMT
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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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 19, 2010 17:51:26 GMT
I think that 'nonce' is an english jailbird word for 'pervert/rapist'.... Ick! So that means we might be looking at a minimum of three meanings for the same word.
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Post by fumobici on Jan 21, 2010 19:14:58 GMT
I think 'nonce' is BE for a paedophile
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 22, 2010 0:39:46 GMT
More mysterious words, or in this case, initials. What is BE?
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Post by fumobici on Jan 22, 2010 2:07:20 GMT
Sorry language forum-speak for British English, as opposed to American English.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 27, 2010 20:17:00 GMT
I thought everyone knew that. ;D
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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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 27, 2010 20:55:37 GMT
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Post by lola on Jan 28, 2010 1:05:55 GMT
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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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2010 6:13:57 GMT
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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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 28, 2010 18:38:49 GMT
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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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2010 18:41:20 GMT
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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Post by Kimby on Jan 28, 2010 21:11:19 GMT
what's an "outlander" bixa? (I know what a "go cup" is, so I guess I'm not an outlander.)
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Post by fumobici on Jan 29, 2010 18:59:12 GMT
I thought everyone knew that. ;D 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". Coda is also a traffic tie up- line of cars.
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