Have you ever wondered where English words come from?
There are a whopping 171,476 words in the Oxford English Dictionary. From aardvark to zyzzyva, words come in all shapes and sizes.
In this post we’ll explore some of the mechanisms through which words are born and we’ll learn some interesting ‘word histories’ along the way!
An acronym is a word made up of the first letter of other words. For sure you’ll have seen ‘LOL’ (laugh out loud) and ‘ASAP’ (as soon as possible), but there are many other examples in the English language, old and new.
In fact, some quite common words are abbreviations in disguise. For example, ‘radar’ and the ‘scuba’ in scuba-diving are both acronyms. The first comes from ‘RAdio Detection And Ranging’ and the second stands for ‘Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus’. Both terms have been around for more than 50 years.
Since the invention of text messaging or Short Message Systems (SMS), there has been an explosion of acronyms. There are so many new ones, it’s hard to keep up!
What do you think these ones mean?
(answers at the end of the article)*
English belongs to the Germanic family of languages. One of the things Germanic languages have in common is a profound love of compound words. These are words consisting of two (or more) smaller words.
When it comes to compound words, the Germans lead the way. See if you can say this one without stopping to breathe!
“Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft”
(See more about this word in Wikipedia)
Why say something in 10 words when you can say it in one?! OK, so this is an extreme example, but English is full of compounds.
Here are some of our all-time favourites:
Onomatopoeia – a complicated term for a very simple concept. It comes from Greek, via Latin, and literally means ‘word-making’. More specifically, it refers to the formation of a word from a sound.
There are many verbs in English that come from the sound you make when doing this action. Try reading these ones out loud – do you know them all?
Of course, English isn’t the only language that creates words from sounds. In fact, some are incredibly similar between languages. One of the best examples of a ‘universal onomatopoeia’ comes from the world of ornithology.
The cuckoo, a medium-sized bird, is famous for two things. Firstly, for laying its eggs in other birds’ nests (very cheeky). Secondly, for its distinct call, from which it gets its name. No matter what language you speak, the chances are that the name for this bird will be more or less the same.
Language | Name for ‘cuckoo’ |
---|---|
Azerbaijani | ququ |
Basque | kuku |
Italian | cuculo |
Kazakh | көкек |
Turkish | guguk |
However, this is not the case for all sound words. From one country to another, the noises that animals don’t change all that much. But, for some reason, there’s enormous variety in how animal noises are represented across different languages. Check out this cool video about it!
We live in a material world and this is reflected in language. Sometimes companies and products gain so much popularity that a specific brand name becomes the general word for an object or action.
Have you ever heard someone go into a stationery shop and ask for ‘multi-coloured, sticky squares of paper’? No, we simply say Post-it Notes.
How about taking a ‘insulating vacuum storage flask’ on a camping holiday? It’s a lot easier to call it a Thermos.
So, the next time someone asks you a silly question, just tell them to Google it!
If you enjoyed reading about where words come from, you might find this post interesting – Myths and Mysteries of the English Language.
Find the following words in the article and then write down any new ones you didn’t know.
Whopping (adj): very large.
Aardvark (n): a nocturnal mammal from Africa.
Zyzzyva (n): a South American beetle.
To stand for (pv): to be an abbreviation for.
To keep up (pv): to move at the same speed as something else.
Ornithology (n): the scientific study of birds
The chances are (exp): it is likely.
Stationery shop (n): a shop where you can buy writing materials and office supplies.
Key
adj = adjective
n = noun
Pv = phrasal verb
exp = expression
*answers to the acronyms…
IMHO: ‘in my humble opinion’ can be used when leaving comments on websites).
NSFW: ‘not safe for work’ indicates that an article or video is not appropriate for the workplace.
LMK: ‘let me know’ is a relaxed way of asking for information.
MTFBWY: ‘may the force be with you’ is an epic way to wish someone good luck!
28/02/2024
16/02/2024
24/01/2024
10/01/2024
19/12/2023
13/12/2023
21/11/2023
13/11/2023
30/10/2023
18/10/2023
04/10/2023
23/08/2023
09/08/2023
02/08/2023
21/06/2023
31/05/2023
17/05/2023
03/05/2023
19/04/2023
05/04/2023
22/03/2023
08/03/2023
22/02/2023
08/02/2023
17/01/2023
04/01/2023
21/12/2022
07/12/2022
16/11/2022
02/11/2022
19/10/2022
12/10/2022
28/09/2022
14/09/2022
24/08/2022
10/08/2022
27/07/2022
06/07/2022
15/06/2022
01/06/2022
18/05/2022
04/05/2022
20/04/2022
06/04/2022
16/03/2022
02/03/2022
15/02/2022
02/02/2022
19/01/2022
05/01/2022
15/12/2021
01/12/2021
24/11/2021
10/11/2021
20/10/2021
06/10/2021
22/09/2021
15/09/2021
25/08/2021
11/08/2021
21/07/2021
07/07/2021
23/06/2021
16/06/2021
01/06/2021
19/05/2021
05/05/2021
21/04/2021
07/04/2021
29/03/2021
24/03/2021
10/03/2021
17/02/2021
03/02/2021
20/01/2021
07/01/2021
16/12/2020
02/12/2020
24/11/2020
11/11/2020
03/11/2020
19/10/2020
05/10/2020
24/09/2020
09/09/2020
20/08/2020
06/08/2020
20/07/2020
02/07/2020
25/06/2020
09/06/2020
27/05/2020
13/05/2020
29/04/2020
22/04/2020
21/04/2020
15/04/2020
03/04/2020
25/03/2020
18/03/2020
13/03/2020
11/03/2020
04/03/2020
26/02/2020
19/02/2020
12/02/2020
05/02/2020
29/01/2020
21/01/2020
15/01/2020
09/01/2020
07/01/2020
23/12/2019
19/12/2019
11/12/2019
26/11/2019
25/11/2019
13/11/2019
07/11/2019
31/10/2019
23/10/2019
17/10/2019
18/09/2019
04/09/2019
28/08/2019
22/08/2019
15/08/2019
07/08/2019
31/07/2019
24/07/2019
17/07/2019
03/07/2019
26/06/2019
19/06/2019
05/06/2019
29/05/2019
23/05/2019
15/05/2019
23/04/2019
10/04/2019
03/04/2019
27/03/2019
20/03/2019
13/03/2019
06/03/2019
20/02/2019
13/02/2019
07/02/2019
30/01/2019
23/01/2019
04/01/2019
12/12/2018
21/11/2018
14/11/2018
07/11/2018
31/10/2018
24/10/2018
04/10/2018
25/09/2018
19/09/2018
13/09/2018
06/09/2018
29/08/2018
22/08/2018
16/08/2018
02/08/2018
18/07/2018
03/07/2018
27/06/2018
20/06/2018
14/06/2018
06/06/2018
31/05/2018
22/05/2018
09/05/2018
02/05/2018
26/04/2018
18/04/2018
13/04/2018
04/04/2018
29/03/2018
21/03/2018
14/03/2018
28/02/2018
22/02/2018
15/02/2018
07/02/2018
31/01/2018
24/01/2018
17/01/2018
10/01/2018
27/12/2017
20/12/2017
13/12/2017
07/12/2017
29/11/2017
22/11/2017
08/11/2017
01/11/2017
25/10/2017
18/09/2017
11/11/2015
22/09/2015
Oxford House Language School
C/Diputació 279, Bajos
(entre Pau Claris y Passeig de Gràcia).
08007 - Barcelona (Eixample)
Tel: 93 174 00 62 | Fax: 93 488 14 05
info@oxfordhousebcn.com
Oxford TEFL SL
C.I.F.: B61740551
Inscrita en el R.M. de Barcelona: Tomo 30959, Folio 0037, Hoja B182188, Inscripción 2ª
Oxford TEFL Barcelona
Oxford House Prague
Leave a Reply