origin – David Gersh

Make an ass of you and me (assume)

December 19, 2016July 14, 2016Leave a comment

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I was thinking about the root word “sume” as in assume, consume, presume, resume, subsume and even, perhaps, exhume. Here is what it means:

sump, sume & sum
These ROOT-WORDS are SUME, SUMP & SUM meaning TAKE, USE & WASTE. They come from the Latin sumere & sumptus. It is interesting to notice how the idea of taking and using began to mean expensive, burdensome, and wasteful. The layman’s name for tuberculosis is conSUMPtion, a disease that causes the patient to WASTE away. In ancient Greece and Rome there was a SUMPtuary law which forbade lavish spending.

1. Assume : as SUME (a sume’) v.   To take; to use; to suppose; as, I assume it is so

2. Assumption : as SUMP tion (a sump’ shun) n.   The act of taking for granted; as, on the assumption that it is so

3. Assuming : as SUM ing (a sume’ ing) adj.   Taking for granted; arrogant

4. Assumed : as SUM ed (a sumed’) adj.   Taken; as, under an assumed name

5. Assumptive : as SUMP tive (a sump’ tiv) adj.   Assuming; supposing

6. Consume : con SUME (kon sume’) v.   To use up; as, Americans consume millions of cigarettes

7. Consumer : con SUME r (kon sue’ mer) n.   One who consumes goods of some kind

8. Consumption : con SUMP tion (kon sump’ shun) n.   Act of using up; wasting away

9. Consumptive : con SUMP tive (kon sump’ tiv) adj.   Affected by consumption; a wasting away of the body

10. Consumable : con SUM able (kon sue’ ma b’l) adj.   Can be used up

11. Consumedly : con SUME dly (kon sue’ med lee) adv.   Excessively; as, he is consumedly proud of himself

12. Presume : pre SUME (pre zume’) v.   To take upon oneself without leave; as, do not presume too much

13. Presumably : pre SUM ably (pre zue’ ma blee) adv.   Supposedly

14. Presumption : pre SUMP tion (pre zump’ shun) n.   Arrogance; audacity

15. Presumptuously : pre SUMP tuously (pre zump’ chu us lee) adv.   Arrogantly; audaciously

16. Resume : re SUME (re zume’) v.   Take up again; as, after intermission the play will resume

17. Sumpter : SUMP ter (sump’ ter) n.   A beast of burden

18. Sumption : SUMP tion (sump’ shun) n.   A major premise; an assumption

19. Sumptuosity : SUMP tuosity (sump tue os’ i ti) n.   Lavish display

20. Sumptuously : SUMP tuously (sump’ chu us lee) adv   Lavishly; expensively

Grog

December 12, 2016July 14, 2016Leave a comment

grog

British sailors in the era of sail, when Britain ruled the sea, were given a ration of rum, cut with water, every day. It was known as grog and is the basis of our word “groggy.”

Square Meal

December 5, 2016July 14, 2016Leave a comment

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Have you ever had a square meal? Here’s why:

Most origin stories of the phrase claim it came from British and American naval ships of the 1700 or 1800’s. There are two versions of this story. The most common claims that sailors aboard ship had their meals served to them on square wooden trays or plates, that they either carried back to their bunks, where the plates could be stored easily, or that were stored elsewhere. Since they only used these squares when they were getting a full meal, probably dinner, the phrase ‘a square meal’ came to be associated with a full and satisfying dinner.

Scuttlebutt

November 14, 2016June 30, 2016Leave a comment

scuttlebutt

The scuttlebutt was a barrel of water placed on the deck of a British warship of the 18th Century to provide water for the crew. The derivation of the term to refer to rumors is delightful.

Bootleg

August 1, 2016June 30, 2016Leave a comment

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The term “bootleg” originated from the late 19th century smuggler’s practice of concealing a bottle of liquor between his (or her) boot and his leg.

Credit to Marisa Christensen for finding the origin.

Trivia

June 13, 2016June 15, 2016Leave a comment

Here’s a trivia question for you. What is the etymology of the word trivia? Maybe this will surprise you.

The word is derived from the roman words tre and via (three roads) and alluded to a meeting place. That led to the connotation of commonplace.

That in turn led to its use to refer to the study of grammar, rhetoric and logic in the English public schools, an undergraduate curriculum, in which no graduate student could be interested. They were trivial. The real subjects, the more challenging ones, were arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy.

The Days

May 18, 2016May 23, 2016Leave a comment

I love thinking about things we take for granted (when I remember). Have you ever thought of the days of the week?

Here they are:

Monday Moon day

Tuesday Tyr’s day. Tyr was the one armed Norse god associated with single combat.

Wednesday Wodin’s day. The ruler of the Norse god’s realm. Also Odin.

Thursday Thor’s day. Okay, you got that one.

Friday Frigga’s day. The wife of Wodin. Pretty nifty women’s equality.

Saturday Saturn’s day

Sunday Sun’s day

Four-flusher

May 4, 2016May 23, 2016Leave a comment

The term “four-flusher” originally meant a card cheat on a river boat who would claim a poker pot by showing four cards of a suit, with a fifth card of another suit hidden behind the other four.