Fake Etymology (Word Myths)

FAKE ETYMOLOGY (WORD MYTHS)

Urban legends, but less creepy, more wordy.

This week K will ruin your best bits of party trivia by explaining their less splashy origins.

We’ll learn that; picnics aren’t racist (but 1940’s linguists kind of were), you probably don’t understand morse code, and how a measurement of common sense became known as a euphemism for beating your wife.

Some phrases covered:

Don’t let the cat out of the bag

Ring around the rosie

500 words for snow

F.U.C.K./S.O.S.

Rule of thumb

Picnic

“I am a Jelly Donut”

Greenland Inuit words 

(Open invite to anyone who can share proper pronunciations or other dialects)

sea ice = siku

pack ice = sikursuit

ice field = sikut iqimaniri

new ice = sikuliaq

thin ice = sikuaq

melting ice = sikurluk

BOOK REFERENCE:  
Word Myths - Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends by David Wilton (2009)

A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages by Carl Darling Buck (1949-10-01)

Dictionary of Word Origins by John Ayto 

Stupid Titanic game we mention :
Titanic :Adventure Out Of Timehttps://store.steampowered.com/app/785480/Titanic_Adventure_Out_Of_Time/

Music used is by R Stevie Moore 

Watch his documentary Cool Daddio :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2s2lmNcX48

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