Did You Know How This Word Was Formed?

Words are funny things. For one thing, they are always changing. Consider lit, which, conventionally, refers to “lighting something up, e.g., a lit candle.” But, in slang,听lit means something is “excellent.” It’s hot, it’s on fire鈥攚hich are just more examples of how we play with words.

For another, they keep听secret stories of the past. Did you know听daisy literally means “day’s eye,” named for the way the flower’s petals would open at dawn?

And, some words look like one thing but are actually another. Bridal, for instance, looks like a simple adjective form of bride, but it actually smushes听bride together with听ale, as bridal originally referred to a “marriage feast.”

Brides and beer? Now that sounds fun. So do these six other words with surprisingly formed origins.

Helicopter

The word听helicopter looks like it combines听heli-, which we may think is associated with the sun, and听copter, but that just doesn’t take flight. Helicopter actually joins helico, from a Greek root meaning “spiral” (think听helix)听补苍诲 pter, from a Greek root meaning “wing” (think听pterodactyl). That means a helicopter is, literally, a machine with “spiral wings.” Makes sense.

The first operational helicopters took flight in the 1930s, though the word dates back to the 1860s, thanks to French models and toys. The concept is yet older, found in ancient China and in da Vinci’s notebooks.

Mortgage

础听mortgage听is “an agreement under which a person borrows money to buy property, like a house.” Typically, a mortgage can take 15鈥�30 years to pay off. If that sounds like a heavy burden to shoulder through life, then wait til you learn where it comes from.

Borrowed into English in the 14th century,听mortgage听literally means “dead pledge” (mort听is “dead,” like听mortal听and听gage, “pledge” or “stake,” related to听wage.) If the debt of a mortgage is paid, then the deal is done鈥攍ike it’s dead.

Suddenly housewarming parties seem like much more somber occasions.

Sacrilege

Sacrilege is “the听violation听or听profanation听of听anything听sacred听or听held听sacred.” It’s most commonly used to describe profane statements about things concerning God or religion.

Which is why it’s reasonable to think the听–rilege听part of sacrilege would come from or be related to听religion. Plus, the adjective form sacrilegious sounds a lot like听religious.

But sacr茅 bleu!听Sacrilege听actually goes all the way back to a Latin phrase, sacrum legere, meaning “to steal from a holy place.” Indeed, a sacrilegious thing to do.听

Salary

Paper. Cheddar. Benjamins. Rubber bands. There’s a lot of slang you could use to describe your paycheck, but we’re throwing it all the way back to the original: salt.

Via French, the word salary (recorded in English in the 14th century) ultimately goes back to the Latin听salarium, “an allowance” or “stipend.” The root of this word is sal, or “salt,” referring to the money Roman soldiers got to buy salt.Salt is humble today, but this meat-preserver and flavor-added has long been very valuable, once worth the same as gold. Put that on your French fries.

Enthusiasm

Think you have听enthusiasm? Try the origin of the word.

Found in English by the mid-1500s,听enthusiasm听ultimately comes (via French and Latin) from a Greek word meaning “inspired by or possessed by a god,” such as an artist or poet is said to experience when creating a visionary work. The -thus- part of enthusiasm goes back to the Greek theos, “god,” which shows up in words like theology.

Early instances of听enthusiasm weren’t so kind in English in the 1500s, though, as the word referred to “pretended frenzies of divine inspiration.” There’s nothing quite like fake enthusiasm.

Sabotage

We use the word听sabotage听for “underhanded interference with work or production,” and the word treads, shall we say, an unusual past.Sabotage comes from听sabot,听an old French word for a type of “wooden shoe.” It’s often said that, in the 19th century, discontented workers would throw their sabots into machines to destroy them. The evidence for this, though, isn’t well-soled. It seems听sabotage grows out of a comparison of clumsy, lazy workers to people wearing wooden shoes. So, apparently saboteurs stuck it to their employers by slowing down their work.

English picked up听sabotage听in the 1910s. The Beastie Boys picked it up in 1994. And wooden shoes became a thing of the past.