Questions tagged [etymology]
Questions about tracing out and describing the elements of an individual word, as well as the historical changes in form and sense which that word has experienced over its history. Please use the 'phrase-origin' tag for phrase/expression origins.
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CavalCade -> motorcade [duplicate]
I have read this questio What is the etymology of "-cade" as in motorcade or cavalcade?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcade says
The term motorcade was coined by Lyle Abbot (in 1912 or ...
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Is "sort of like" hypercorrectur? [closed]
Dutch has soortgelijke "alike, similar", soortelijk "specific to", and indeed soort van "sort of", German has to my knowledge only technical jargon sortenrein "...
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Is "farfel" an idiolectical quirk/part of a familect?
My whole life, my family has used "farfel" to refer to anything small, unwanted, usually fabric-based, and out of place (i.e., on the floor; not in the trash). Lint, a few millimeters of ...
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Etymology of "banged-up" = "imprisoned"?
1. What is the etymology of banged-up = "imprisoned"?
Briefly googling, I couldn't find any etymology.
(I'm guessing it came from the banging sound of the gate/door as one is locked up?)
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Was the phrase "white Christmas" indeed coined in the song?
It's well-known that the song White Christmas - Irving Berlin, 1942 - is one of the world's most popular songs by any of many measures (only McCartney's Yesterday wins in some measures). Apart from ...
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