Another Addition for The Lexicon

I haven't posted an item for The Lexicon in quite some time, so here is a goodie for you all, courtesy of my father.

• Amateur - Notice the "ama" at the beginning of the word? Anyone familiar with the French word "amour" will see the connection. This word actually means "lover of" in French and stems from the Latin root of the same meaning. While in English, amateur can have a positive ("amateur sports") and pejorative meaning ("What an amateur!"), the positive connotation is more closely related to the original French meaning. This is because most amateurs do what they do because they are driven by a passion for their sport or activity.

Words to ponder!

After a week's rest, I think it is due time for a couple of entertaining linguistic goodies for you all!

• First of all, did you know that the word "ouija" from "ouija board" is actually a combination of the French "oui" ('yes') and the German "ja" (also, 'yes')? So really, when we seance with our ghostly pals on the other side, we are communicating with them through a "yes-yes board"!

• Now, how many of you have heard of the expression "Shank's Pony"? I hadn't until today, and what it refers to is the act of walking. "Shank" is the original term for what we call the "shin bone" and the Shank's pony was "a horse-drawn lawnmower with nowhere for the driver to sit, so he had to walk along behind" (BBC Website).

New Lexicon Additions

Oooh...here are a couple of good words and their origins for the Lexicon! I love how even the most seemingly banal of words can still maintain a sense of intrigue.

• disease: literally to "not be at ease" - to be sure, I don't know many spot sprouting, germ coughing, chicken noodle soup slurping people who are!

• disaster: this word literally refers to an unlucky alignment of stars in the sky foretelling an inauspicisous event (the -aster actually means 'star' and also appears in astrology, asterisk, and asteroid, just to name a few!)

Gosh darn, I just love linguistics! *cheesy grin*

Heather's lexicon of weird and wacky words

I learned two new English words today, and I thought I might share them with you!

• blype /blaip/: the skin that peels off your body after a sunburn (Ew? Are we the only language in the world with a word for this oh-so-appetizing phenomenon?)

• inchoate /inkoeit/: yet to be completely formed, incomplete (i.e. inchoate ideas) -- my dad spent the whole day plopping it into random sentences, only to find out that he was pronouncing it incorrectly (the "ch" must be pronounced as "k"!)
  

If you, faithful reader, come across any words that are cause you to pause for thought, please let me know and every now and then I'll compile a list and post the submissions I receive.