Just wondering

ana

And to add to your list, Bellanonna, the most obvious one from recent years is 'medalled'. So wrong...or is that just my own inner GOW having a bit of a work-out?

Falconbird, I was quite amused, on my first visit to NZ that 'togs', which has become archaic in Britain, is still in common use there for swimming gear.

Thanks, janer, I've added 'Lingo' to my wish list.

Lots, surely? Just looking round my room, if I verbalise lamp that would mean to hit someone. Chair would be to take a meeting. Carpet would be to admonish someone. I haven't been in the garden yet! But you get my drift (think that's a WS phrase) some you can but not all.
I certainly don't feel intolerant. Just at times irritated by inaccuracies like text for texted and so on. That's my inner Grumpy Old Woman being exercised from time to time.

One has to be careful. The love of language can lead to intolerance. I have to consciously remind myself that nothing is cast in stone. BUT…when did problems become issues? Are there any nouns that can’t be verbed(?)?

I am interested in the origins of words and the other day a friend referred to "swimming togs."

I hadn't heard that expression for years although I used to use it. "Togs" comes from the French "togue" meaning cloak or from the Latin "toga."

I too have always been interested in the origin of words ...fostered by my dear father (self taught),who delighted in passing on what he had painstakingly learned. In our house too was The Loom of Language and Mathematics for the Million (both by Lancelot Hogben?). My father pointed out that "slogan" and "galore" are words in common and frequent use...both derived from Scottish gaelic.

Bellanonna, my knowledge was so bad about this that I just thought a journalist, or a region made up a word, and it entered a dictionary at some point.
So it hadnt occured to me that anything much could be written about the origins of a word for that reason.

And I had no idea that Shakespeare and anyone else for that matter, deliberately made up words.

I havent really given much thought to the entire subject of origin of words since schooldays.
I did do Latin at school, but that was part of said schooldays.

Another good book is Lingo, by Gaston Dorren.

Yes anno. It's so satisfying to 'link up' words in Spanish/ French/ Italian etc and see their roots. My DS finds it equally interesting and he had a better grade in higher Latin than I did!!
Unfortunately, Latin has now been cut from the curriculum at his alma mater (which I'd also attended).
I've never ventured beyond european languages although I made a point of learning a few useful phrases in Urdu.

People who have studied Mediterranean languages, even without the benefit of Latin, also become fascinated by the origins of words and the cognates in the various languages they do know. My DS2 takes after me in his interest in language even though he doesn't have the advantage of a classical education.
The easiest language I ever learnt (or tried to learn) was Swahili. Grammar completely different from Indo-European grammar, but followed a pattern that was easy enough to learn.

I've always thought that the study of Latin promoted interest in etymology and find it strange that someone who has studied it doesn't have that curiosity!

I'm chuckling quietly to myself too, FarNorth.

Oh Far North I tried to read your New Scientist post out to DH. But got such a fit if the giggles that my coffee nearly went over my iPad!

AshTree - I wish I'd known of that book. Thanks for the recommendation. I'm fascinated by etymology. As someone earlier said, you can often work out a word's provenance. Italian helps me and also German, which I'm currently studying, as it's so interesting so see how that part of our language was formed. I've sometimes read a paragraph and totted up the words of Latin ( Norman) origin, and the German or Scandinavian ones. Nerd or what? It's usually while waiting for someone to ring back. The non Latin ones win. I think we'd need to have a knowledge of Sanskrit though to really go back to origins?
Soontobe - maybe you just accept words without curiosity and have other interests, but if you are at all curious you can just input a word and add origin, or something like that? Whole new world. You did begin the thread so I take it you do have an interest in words?

AshTree I also enjoy dipping into The Etymologicon. I've always loved words and their origins. My dad had a book called 'The Loom of Language' which was all about groups of languages and how words within a group are related - sound shifts (eg pater, vater, father) and so on. I devoured that book from cover to cover. It still exists in revised (several times) forms. My 12-year-old GD is also fascinated by words and languages so I'm on the lookout for something appropriate for her. It helped my vocabulary to learn Latin and, later, Greek up to first year at Uni, though I dropped them in favour of English. No wonder I'm at home in Pedants' Corner.

mcem My natural curiosity and some inspiring teachers is one of the reasons I waste spend so much time Googling.

I have picked up bits of Latin from singing various classic religious texts stuff in choir. You start seeing the connections in the words you are singing that have similar contexts in English usage. You can get lightbulb moments.
Such as "Qui sedes ad dexteram partris." Sedes is, sits or sitting. Sedentary means sitting about etc etc.

I got the sense of some italian like that the other day. I doubt if the tenses were right but you get the gist of what is being said.

For all those who enjoy reading about how words come into being, I cannot recommend this book highly enough - The Etymologicon

It really is the most fascinating book. I have it on my Kindle and am always dipping into it - I've probably read it several times, but not necessarily from cover to cover!

I did a course on the origins of words years ago, it was fascinating to see which had greek origins, which had latin. It's like a huge family tree of words all spreading back over the centuries.

Spot on alea!
In my case it was Scottish primary school plus teacher mother plus natural curiosity. And yes I can spot the link ( but will resist the temptation to explain).

I find a basic familiarity with words' origins is invaluable. If I come across an unfamiliar word I can use this, along with the word's context to figure out its meaning.

I enjoy the fact that new words happen but am happy to acquire existing ones to extend my own vocabulary.

My DCs, DGCs and pupils have all enjoyed 'word of the day' quizzes!

Thanks to Alea, I just googled malapropism and I learned :

It was reported in New Scientist that an office worker had described a colleague as "a vast suppository of information" (i.e., repository or depository). The worker then apologised for his "Miss-Marple-ism" (i.e. malapropism).[21] New Scientist noted this as possibly the first time anyone had uttered a malapropism for the word malapropism itself.

I think I have my Scottish primary school and my late father who was a writer to thank for my interest in language, we used to be set exercises like -tele vision, telephone, tele kinesis, telegraph -spot the link!

The origins of words are fascinating and if more people paid any attention to the origin we wouldn't get some of the truly appalling malapropisms (see what I did there?) which we see nowadays!

post to mcem.

SineDie, I agree.
I will take far more notice in future.