title: assorted etymologies

date created: 2025.03.05
last modified: 2025.03.05

----


Bugged: In the 18th century, the word 'bugaboo' became thieves' slang for a police officer. When people started putting up burglar alarms in the 1920s, burglars began calling these 'bugs' because they acted like an automated policeman. It a home had a burglar alarm, it was 'bugged'.

Alcohol: The word 'alcohol' comes from Arabic 'al kuhul', a kind of make-up (which we still sometimes call kohl). As kohl is an extract, the word 'alcohol' started to be used to refer to the pure essence of something. In the 1600s, someone tried to find the pure essence of wine, which they called 'wine-alcohol', later shortened to 'alcohol'.

Hocus Pocus: Thought to be a comedic mispronunciation of 'hoc est corpus meum' (this is my body) by people making fun of Catholic priests.

Guy: The word 'guy' (as in a man) comes from Guy Fawkes, who planned to execute the king of England. In celebration of the king escaping assassination, people burn effigies of him, usually made of rags. A man who looked scruffy/disheveled would sometimes be compared to these effigies, and be called a 'guy'. From there, the word eventually lost its negative connotation and now can refer to any man (and in the plural form -- 'you guys' -- to people of any gender).

Malaria: 'Malaria' comes from Italian 'mal aria' (bad air) as it was once thought that malaria was caused by poisonous air coming from bogs and marshes.

Ampersand: An ampersand is the 'and' symbol (&), and was once considered part of the alphabet. People would say 'and per say and' (and by itself) to distinguish the character from the word. 'And per se and' later morphed into 'ampersand'.

Sinister: Sinister comes from a Latin word that means 'on the left side', as left-handed people were once associated with wickedness and other negative traits.

Vaccine: The word vaccine comes from the Latin word 'vaccus', meaning 'cow', as the first vaccine used a dose of cowpox to prevent smallpox.