The Wichita daily eagle., 1895-12-10
SOME CURIOUS WORDS.
rhe Origf. Of 'Gzs- UusxpI.ined Aad -Cs
price" Relates to the Playful GeAI

The Origf. Of '.Gzs" UusxpIained Aad ..Cs-
price" kel>tss to the Playful 0e~I
One need not search far in the dio-
tionary to find curious words. Most
words have an interesting history a.
to development and change of sense,
and the regular processes OF forma-
ton by compromising dIcercnt ele-
ments into one new vocAble are very
interesting as n study. IL you desire
10 know the English language well.
and TO be able to express thought
clearly, you cannot afford 10 neglecs
the study of etymology.
One OF the most interesting discov-
cries made by the student of etymology
win be the unaccountablc origin. or
rather the utter absence OF Systematic
origin, of some of the commonest
words. Thus, gas Is q name that has
never been explained. beyond the mere
statement that IL was invented by
Belgian chemist named Van Helmont.
Guesses have been made about what
suggested IL 20 him, but he gave no in
formation as TO its source. but merely
wrote in Latin: This varor hitherto
unknown. l call by q new name, gas"
Caucus and teetotal ara common
words without satisfactory explanal
ton. but with very interesting histo>
les.
Certain snakes are called sdders. IN
IL not a curious fact that the name adj
der originated simply through erroneous
understanding OF sound? The Anglo
Raxon word WAS naedre, and the Ger
man is natter. Adder comes from mis-
understanding a nadder ~ an adder.
and the Century dictionary says that
apron, anger. grange and umpire arose
through a similar mistake.
Just opposite 10 this peculiar changs
from nadder 10 adder is that which
gives US the nAtne newt for what used
10 be an evst.
A common saying II that 4 SURPRISE.
person is taken aback. This is said 20
have originated from some expression
used nautically. as in saying that sails
are taken sbaek when they are driven
by the winds back against the mast-
Probably ID would be hard tn prove that
either Of the sayings had It's origin In
the other. but they both Use The word
abaek in it's literal sense-backWard.
Aback and similar words disclose q
curious fact iR their efyroology, name
Iy. that the frxt syllable is merely .
letter that stands for the original
Anglo-SaKoH word on. which meant not
only what our present -on" means,
but also at, 10. in. into. or almost any-
thing of that kind, according ~ cir
cumstances-
Accord. concord and diseord cons
from what seems queer thing 20 sug-
gcst some words for tlIs sense ia
which they have always been u1ed. Ia
each the SECOND syllable Is from the
Latin word for heart. Accord In Sc
elements means TO the heart" RsAt
agreement, or harmony must haTs beer
considered 80 sweet and 80 rare that
the only fitting name for it Tnuat con,
tain that Of tbs heart sA tie scat Of
human affection.
Caprice snd caprieious seem % aTis@
from the fact that people could find IN
better comparison for certain actions
than the eapering Of goat The ETY.
rnology Of thee words that oo1asctz
them with the Latin word for Rost 10
questioned by ths Century dicti0na<y.
bot there il no doubt that espcT n from
that Latin werd-
Pilgrims were 50 called from = very
queer reason. and the vor,i vas rnads
IN . queer way. Tbsy walked throagh
he Land. ard, a. tals IVES their pr9Eai-
srut Characteristic. :; surgeaisd -
aarse FOR thcss. Which is Isale frDuz
the Latin words PER. meaning iAr0Igs.
md ageT. Easss4ny and aiiAs@lPAis
TInseN