14 everyday words you never wondered about

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The station was once a place of entertainment, and fat is a sign of a truly prosperous life.

Every day a person utters at least ten thousand words. How many of them does he think about before speaking out loud? The life hacker decided to do it for you: he chose 14 words familiar to anyone and found out where they came from.

1. Train station

In tsarist Russia, the place where trains stopped was called a railway station, but a train station, or a voxal in the old manner, was called an entertainment institution where festivities, concerts and receptions took place. The word takes on the origin of the word "station" its origin from the English Vauxhall Gardens - this was the name of the entertainment garden in London, popular in the 17th-19th centuries.

By order of Nicholas I, a similar center was built in the city of Pavlovsk. This small town was the terminal station of the Tsarskoye Selo railway. Voksal attracted the public from St. Petersburg and, as a result, paid for the construction and maintenance of the first Russian railway.

The voxal was located in the immediate vicinity of the station, and this led to the fact that soon the guests transferred the name of the entertainment establishment to the station building itself. Later the name stuck and migrated to all other railway points.

2. Doctor

In the etymological dictionary of Uspensky it is clearly defined that the word "doctor" is rooted precisely in the verb "lie".

But in the language of the ancestors, this verb did not mean "to lie", but simply "to speak." Indeed, doctors in those days talked a lot, and sometimes their whole job was to speak to the sick.

Today doctors talk less and do more, but the name stuck, no matter what it may indicate.

3. Nonsense

In etymological dictionaries it is written that this word was formed by French students, who combined the Latin galli - "rooster" and the Greek matheia - "knowledge", thereby obtaining "cock knowledge", which migrated into our language as "stupidity, nonsense."

However, there is another version of the origin of this word. According to her, the French doctor Galli Mathieu, along with the usual drugs, prescribed a dose of laughter to each patient. On the back of the prescription, the doctor wrote a funny story or joke, thus earning himself a reputation for being a pun. And after that his name was formed into a single "nonsense" - healing jokes.

4. Girl

Such a seemingly simple word also has an interesting history. It is logical to assume that the "girl" originates from the "maiden". If you go deeper, you can find that in the Proto-Slavic languages the word "virgin" comes from the Indo-European root dhei - "to breastfeed."

It turns out that among the ancestors of the Slavs, only women were considered girls, not only who had reached childbearing age, but who had already given birth and nursed their children. But in the modern sense, the presence of children is excluded by the status of a girl.

5. Fool

We all know who is called a fool these days. Only in ancient times this word was used in completely different situations.

The root of the word comes from the Proto-Indo-European dur, which meant "bite, sting."

Initially, people who were stung or bitten were called fools, and then they gave the word a broader meaning and began to apply it to the sick, rabid and crazy.

6. Fat

This word appeared in Russian in the second half of the 11th century, but its meaning was completely different then.

Fat in Old Slavonic was called acquired, wealth, luxury and abundance, but the very fat layer that could appear as a result of this abundance was called "tuk".

Moreover, calling the baby a “bold” name was a good omen. That is why in those days there were many Zhiroslavs, Domazhirov, Nazirov and Zhiroshek.

7. Ass

This word does not require additional explanation today, but earlier it was far from anatomy and had a completely different meaning.

In Russia, an ass was usually called the back room in the hut or the back of the cart. But the same word also meant what a person left behind - an inheritance.

So staying in the ass in the old days was quite a profitable deal - not like now.

8. Fraudster

Fraudsters in ancient times did not promise anything good. Only now the word has acquired a broader meaning, and earlier these guys specialized exclusively in wallets.

In ancient Russia, there were no pockets, and self-respecting people carried all their savings in purses - special wallets. It was precisely for these purses that petty thieves, who were popularly called "swindlers", were hunting.

9. Heaven

Philologists give a rather logical explanation to this word.

It has references to a number of roots from different languages, but they all agree on one thing: in Latin nebula - "cloud", in ancient Indo-European nábhas - "fog, cloud" and in German nebel - "fog".

It turns out that initially the word "sky" meant "fog, clouds". So, if you mentioned the expression "not a cloud in the sky" in ancient times, you would simply not be understood.

10. Scoundrel

Another word that carries a negative connotation today did not mean it at all before.

In Russia, the status of a villain was received by men unfit for military service. Following this logic, it can be assumed that today a good half of the male population would not refuse such a status.

11. Parasite

If you are thinking of blood-sucking and other parasitic organisms, relax: the word does not originate from biology.

Both parts come from ancient Greek and literally mean to dine at a party ("para" - near, near and "sitos" - food, food). Moreover, in ancient Greek literature, there was a hero whose name sounded like that - Parasite. He loved to have fun, led an idle lifestyle, and, probably, often hung out at a party.

That's how you invite all kinds of parasites.

12. Slates

Another example of transferring a proper name to the subject of everyday life.

If you thought that the word was borrowed, you have never been so wrong. It could only be borrowed from a small town in the Leningrad Region. The Soviet plant "Polymer" was one of the main manufacturers of slippers and was located in the city of Slantsy.

In order to indicate the origin of the shoes, the manufacturer embossed the name of the city on the soles, and buyers naively believed that this was the name of practical slippers. The word stuck and is still actively used in speech, although the production of rubber slippers (and not only) has long migrated to Asia.

13. Bitch

Before the next time you call a lady with character with this word, think about whether everything is really that bad.

The fact is that the "bitch" comes from the common Slavic "rubbish" - numb, numb, and also has correspondences in German sterben ("die") and Greek stereos ("numb").

It turns out that bitches were originally called corpses and the dead, carrion. It is interesting that today some girls take such a title with pride.

14. Dinner

The last word in our collection also originates from Old Russian. It just meant it was not at all the last meal of the day, as it seems to you now.

"Supper" comes from the Old Russian "ug", which means "south". So, in those days, they sat down to dinner when the sun was in the south. By today's standards, this meal can be considered an afternoon snack.

Subsequently, the meals and their names shifted, and they began to have supper after six, and after nine, and someone even raids the refrigerator at 12 for hours.

Now share in the comments which words you guessed about the origin, and which ones became an unexpected turn. Or write your own versions of the sudden meanings of ordinary words!