Word of the Week – Diploma

Word of the Week – Diploma

Okay, I’m a little late in the season for this one, I grant you…but the question came up when my daughter received her high school diploma, and I haven’t honestly done any of these posts since then–June was CRAZY! And I figure, hey, learning is learning. 😉

So the word diploma comes (not surprisingly) from Latin. The Latin word being–brace yourself–diploma. Yep. Straight borrow there. The interesting thing, though, comes in the meaning. The Latin, and the original English that dates from the 1640s, both meant “an official state letter of recommendation.” This would be less like our diplomas today and more like what became a passport or a letter of introduction. The Latin is actually taken straight from the Greek, from the words “fold over.” So not a rolled scroll or something in a frame–a folded piece of paper.

By 1680, it was being used in relation to documents issues by colleges to award achievements. This is of course our primary meaning today–and it’s extended to other schools as well–but it wasn’t exclusively that kind of document until  modern times.

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Word of the Week – Season (Archive)

Word of the Week – Season (Archive)

Before bed one night, while we were waiting for his sister to finish washing her face and brushing her teeth, my son and I were coming up with silly reasons for each season’s name.

It began with the easy-to-determine fall. “Hey!” Rowyn said, “I bet it’s because of when the leaves fall.” I assured him that was, indeed, the reason. “Then what about winter?” he asked.

I thought for a moment, and then said, “Because that’s when all the leaves already wint.”

He laughed at my deliberate mispronunciation of went and said, “So how about spring?”

Another real answer. “It’s when new life springs forth. But for summer…?”

Rowyn thought for a little while then said, “I know! It’s when the school year is all summed up.”

Aren’t we just the cleverest things. 😉 I’ve already looked into the real etymologies of pretty much all those season words, but it occurs to me that I’ve never looked up season itself! So a quick lesson.

The English word (which has been in use since English itself originated, in the 13th century) comes directly from the French saison, which means exactly what the English does–“a period of the year; the appropriate time.” But if you trace saison back, it comes in fact from the Latin sationem, which literally means, “to sow, to plant.” In the days of Vulgar Latin, the word was used most often to indicate spring, when said sowing and planting was done. It was the French who broadened it to mean any season, and we of course borrowed that from them.

I hope you’re enjoying your summer season!

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Word of the Week – Coffee (Archive)

Word of the Week – Coffee (Archive)

Last published June 2017.

I’ve featured this word a few times now before, and I know much of my readership has changed over the years. And let’s be honest–coffee deserves to be featured again. Because it’s one of the most beautiful creations in the universe. 😉 The best guess of the awesome www.etymonline.com is that our word coffee came from the Italian caffe, which came the Turkish kahveh, which in turn came from the Arabic qahwah. Which, they think, got its name from the Kaffa region in Ethiopia, where most historians say coffee originated.

God bless those Arabians in Ethiopia!
Coffee was introduced in England by 1650, and within 25 years, over
3,000 coffeehouses dotted the country. (I heard a theory saying that the
English moving from ale to coffee is why there was a great expansion in
their empire, LOL.)
What I didn’t realize is that by 1774 one could use the word coffee to refer to a small meal where the drink was served, much like tea. Who knew?
In my house, we take our coffee very seriously. Since college, my husband and I have used whole beans and ground them fresh every morning. Last Christmas, we splurged on a gorgeous Jura Ena coffee system as a gift for each other. This thing creates the most beautiful, delicious cup of coffee ever, and it makes getting up in the morning something to look forward to.
So I’m going to have another cup. Go sip some in my honor if you’re a coffee drinker! 😉

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Word of the Week – Surf (Archive)

Word of the Week – Surf (Archive)

Originally Published September 2019

Surf began its life as a noun meaning “waves coming ashore” in about 1680, though it was quite likely a variation on suffe, from the 1590s. Where did it come from? No one’s quite sure. But it was originally used to describe the coast of India, so speculation points to it being borrowed from an Indic word. It could also be a variation of sough, which means “a rushing sound,” which is an Old English word.

The verb meaning “to ride the crest of a wave” dates from 1917. Surfing as an activity and surfer both date from 1955. And of course, the internet usage is first recorded from 1993.

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Word of the Week (Archive) – From Scratch

Word of the Week (Archive) – From Scratch

Original post published 10/15/2018

My October baking has inspired looking into this one. Why, exactly, do we say something’s made “from scratch” if it doesn’t use a mix? Maybe y’all know this already, since it’s pretty simple, but I was clueless, LOL.

In my head, I think it may have had something to do with the meaning of scratch that comes from the verb meaning “scrape together,” as in scratching out an existence. Because, you know, you scrape together the ingredients. Literally… And I guess that’s not totally far afield.

But in fact, it’s a bit more simple than that. One of the noun meanings of scratch is “nothing.” (Which I guess I’d never really paused to consider before.) So from scratch really means from nothing. Er, nothing pre-made anyway. Interestingly, that’s been in use since 1918.

Do you like to make things from scratch, or are you more for the ease of boxes and mixes? (My answer depends on the project.)

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Word of the Week – Hands Down

Word of the Week – Hands Down

“It’s the best, hands down.”

“He won hands down.”

“This is hands down the most delicious mac and cheese recipe out there.”

I daresay we all know the phrase…but do you know where it comes from? I hadn’t. But it turns out hands down, which dates from 1855, is actually a term coined in horse racing.

The first recorded use was in The Sportsman in 1840, describing a jockey who was so far ahead of his competitors that he crossed the finish line “with his hands down,” meaning that he let up on the reins and let the horse just cruise to a win, he had so much lead on the others.

That was the report that sparked the phrase. In a mere decade-and-a-half, it became part of everyday speech, applied to other easy wins or times when something was so ahead of the competition that they didn’t even have to try to beat them.

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