Wednesday WOLF - Chum

I'm a nerd. I'm in fact such a big nerd that I tend to look up word origins in my spare time because I'm fascinated by our language. The odder the origin, the better. I've got a collection of random information in my brain that makes me an awesome Trivial Pursuit partner, but is completely useless when it comes to real world application. Like say, job applications.

In any case, I thought I'd share some of this random crap with you in the form of the new acronym-ific series. I give you - Word Origins from Left Field - that's right, the WOLF. Er... ignore the fact that the "from" doesn't fit.

So the other day I referred to someone as my chum. Yeah, it's not a word that gets tossed out there a lot, but I enjoy my oddness and kind of revel in my vocabulary. After that had slipped out, my random brain said, "Hey, wait a minute - isn't that also what you call...."

And yes, it is. So here my friends are two standard definitions of chum:

1. A close friend

2. Chopped fish, fish fluids, and other material thrown overboard as angling bait

Assuming that you would never substitute one for the other, I did a little digging.

The word chum as used in the first instance popped up in the 17th century, as slang for a roommate. It's a clipped form of "chamber mate."

The origin of the second instance (use of dead small fish and fish parts to attract larger fish) is most likely from the use of a specific type of Pacific Northwest salmon called chum Salmon.

But the two are not related at all, alas. I was so hoping for some great story about someone chopping up their roommate and making them sleep with the fishes.

Wednesday WOLF - Nickname

I'm a nerd. Yes, I'm in fact such a big nerd that I tend to look up word origins in my spare time because I'm fascinated by our language. The odder the origin, the better. I've got a collection of random information in my brain that makes me an awesome Trivial Pursuit partner, but is completely useless when it comes to real world application. Like say, job applications.

In any case, I thought I'd share some of this random crap with you in the form of the new acronym-ific series. I give you - Word Origins from Left Field. Er... ignore the fact that the "from" doesn't fit.

Today we're going to talk about nicknames. I've got a real name (Mindy) and a few derivatives of it. I've been called Mind, (not pronounced like a brain), Minn-o, Little Minnow (this was awhile back), and my sister calls me Minner (unsure why).

So where does the word "nickname" come from?

Apparently we have our lazy-tongued ancestors with bad diction to blame. In Old English, "eke" means to add. I still find myself using that particular word occasionally, like when moving furniture. "Just eke it to the left a bit," or cooking, "Eke some salt in there." But I read a lot and pick up a bunch of old words that get odd looks from the b/f sometimes, which culminate in the occasional Dictionary Challenge, so if you don't use "eke" in general conversation, don't feel bad.

In any case, "an ekename" would be an additional name, one by which someone is known even though it's not the name they were born with. "An ekename" got blurred together and there you have it.

Wednesday WOLF - Blog

I'm such a big nerd that I tend to look up word origins in my spare time because I'm fascinated by our language. The odder the origin, the better. I've got a collection of random information in my brain that makes me an awesome Trivial Pursuit partner, but is completely useless when it comes to real world application. Like say, job applications.

In any case, I thought I'd share some of this random crap with you in the form of the new acronym-ific series. I give you - Word Origins from Left Field - that's right, the WOLF. Er... ignore the fact that the "from" doesn't fit.

OK, big fat confession time. I didn't know the origin of the word "blog." Yeah, really. Apparently it comes from the phrase "web log," being shortened. 'Cause really, it takes so freakin' long to say "web log."

A brief history of the evolution, courtesy of Wikipedia:

The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997. The short form, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May 1999. Shortly thereafter, Evan Williams at Pyra Labs used "blog" as both a noun and verb ("to blog," meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog") and devised the term "blogger" in connection with Pyra Labs' Blogger product, leading to the popularization of the terms.

So 'fess up. Did you know that's where we got "blog?" Can you think of a better name? How about self-talker... or stalker? No... that's not quite what I want...