The Colorado statesman., 1922-03-25
ORIGIN OF WORDS
Entertainment and knowledge in
the Search.
In the End, It viii Be Found That Ex-
plantations Are In the Nature
of a Guess.

Most people take their words (and
their phrases, too) ready made; that
Is. they learn a small vocabulary from
hearing other people talk, and after
ward, finding the same words In books
and dictionaries, they are emboldened
to use them in their speech and writ
ing. If they ever wonder where these
words came from originally it is in a
vague, listless way, rather like the
way they look upon mysterious astron-
omy.
If one pins a comparatively small
class down to their actual knowledge
Of the English language one can learn
something more definite, but still nebu-
lous. This small educated class real
ly has heard of the Angles and Danes
who impinged their language on the
Picts and thus started the Anglo-Sax-
on boom. 1t will tell you also how
julius Caesar brought his cohorts into
Britain and almost succeeded in max
ing it a Latin-speaking island.
Coming down to the year 1066, the
same cultivated persons explain by
means of the Conquest the large num-
ber of French words that have been
more or less AngllciZed that we use
every day. And when we ask why
there are so many German words In
our tongue it is only necessary to re-
call the fact of a common Teutonic
origin of the sailors and beachcombers
who lived either in the fens or along
the shores of Europe and England.
They spoke what may be called a COM
mon language.
After Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden,
Ben Jonson, Sam Johnson and other
notable writer's had introduced more
Latin, Italian and French words into
the language and invented a few of
their own English may be said to have
been finished. Really every language.
including English, is extraordinarily
conservative and resents new words.
All the same new words do get into
them. These words are sometimes re-
, quired to describe new things in the
arts, sciences, etc.
When Morse invented his code
handy word had to be made and so
arose telegraph and a variety of deriv-
atives. The airplane has given us In
turn several new words. Slang gives
us novel word now and then.
For instance, the word boycott" had
no trouble at all in finding its way
into our tongue and into most Euro
pean languages. 1t arose from the
treatment of Capt Boycott of Lough
Mask House in the County Mayo in
/ 1880. Boston" new word for new
card game. got into the language earli-
er. 1t comes from the siege of our
| city of Boston in 1775-76 and the
moves of the game follow all the stra-
tegic moves in this military history.
Pomp, meaning a solemn procession,
comes from the the Latin word pompe,
which was in turn derived from the
Latin verb pempein, which means to
send NEEDLE, to mix. Is a distortion
of the word middle, but it has as good
a place in the language now as Its
| forebear.
Who knows where the word haber-
dashery comes from? Ask any man
who sells neckties, collars and other
little things to adorn (perhaps) the
person of man and he hasn't the least
idea. Look up the word in the stand
ard dictionaries; the search will not
be rewarded.
Quite otherwise Is the origin Of the
word humble pie. 1t comes from the
eating by servants long years ago of
pie made from the umbles, or entrails,
/ of the deer.
There is considerable entertainment
and not little knowledge to be gained
by looking up the origin of words.
Why not add it to the list of popular
indoor rts?-New York Herald.