Word Facts for Feb. 12-18, 2011
Word origin for the weekend of Feb. 12-13, 2011: Fibonacci sequence - Recursive numbers, the golden ratio, and other such mathematical problems are the lifeblood of modern computers, but someone once had to figure them out by hand and in the head. One such math whiz was a medieval Italian named Leonardo Fibonacci, who first put to paper a sequence of numbers formed by adding the previous two values: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, ...
Word origin for Feb. 14, 2011: cougar - Why should the sometimes-lethal mountain lion inspire a term for an older woman interested in younger men? The answer lies in the slang spoken in British Columbia. The term would likely have remained a localism had not two Vancouver women started an online dating service, cougardate.com, in 1999. English-born Canadian actress Kim Cattrall introduced it to the popular cable TV series Sex and the City in 2001, and an idiom was born.
Word origin for Feb. 15, 2011: hang a Ralph - In New England, this instruction means not to execute someone whose ancient Norse name means "wise wolf," but instead to turn right while driving. In the mid-Atlantic states, the phrase "hang a roscoe" is heard to mean the same thing - and "hang a right," of course, is heard everywhere. All date to 1960s youth slang and probably derive from the surfing phrase "hang five" or "hang ten," referring to the position of the feet on the surfboard.
Word origin for Feb. 16, 2011: theory - The abstract word "theory," meaning a kind of learned speculation about why something is the way it is, has an eminently concrete origin in the Greek verb theasthai, which means "to be an onlooker" or, more pointedly in this case, "to look at closely." The word entered science through the vehicle of religion, in which a "theory" was a conjecture about the nature of the divine.
Word origin for Feb. 17, 2011: platoon - The first military units called "platoons" were formed in the late Middle Ages, employing early firearms that fired "pellets" - crude bullets, that is. In French, this pellet-firing bunch was called a peleton. Imported as "platoon," the word came to be applied to a small group of soldiers, usually infantry.
Word origin for Feb. 18, 2011: globalism - As coined by media maven Marshall McLuhan, the "global village" was a place in which national boundaries were secondary to cultural ones - the global influence of popular music being a case in point. Economists borrowed the idea to mean that national markets would have no barriers to entry - hence, under "globalism," a company could do business wherever it wanted.
Word origin for Feb. 14, 2011: cougar - Why should the sometimes-lethal mountain lion inspire a term for an older woman interested in younger men? The answer lies in the slang spoken in British Columbia. The term would likely have remained a localism had not two Vancouver women started an online dating service, cougardate.com, in 1999. English-born Canadian actress Kim Cattrall introduced it to the popular cable TV series Sex and the City in 2001, and an idiom was born.
Word origin for Feb. 15, 2011: hang a Ralph - In New England, this instruction means not to execute someone whose ancient Norse name means "wise wolf," but instead to turn right while driving. In the mid-Atlantic states, the phrase "hang a roscoe" is heard to mean the same thing - and "hang a right," of course, is heard everywhere. All date to 1960s youth slang and probably derive from the surfing phrase "hang five" or "hang ten," referring to the position of the feet on the surfboard.
Word origin for Feb. 16, 2011: theory - The abstract word "theory," meaning a kind of learned speculation about why something is the way it is, has an eminently concrete origin in the Greek verb theasthai, which means "to be an onlooker" or, more pointedly in this case, "to look at closely." The word entered science through the vehicle of religion, in which a "theory" was a conjecture about the nature of the divine.
Word origin for Feb. 17, 2011: platoon - The first military units called "platoons" were formed in the late Middle Ages, employing early firearms that fired "pellets" - crude bullets, that is. In French, this pellet-firing bunch was called a peleton. Imported as "platoon," the word came to be applied to a small group of soldiers, usually infantry.
Word origin for Feb. 18, 2011: globalism - As coined by media maven Marshall McLuhan, the "global village" was a place in which national boundaries were secondary to cultural ones - the global influence of popular music being a case in point. Economists borrowed the idea to mean that national markets would have no barriers to entry - hence, under "globalism," a company could do business wherever it wanted.
Labels: 1999, 2001, 2011, coinage, computer, golden, greg, history, kim, languages, life, maxed-out tags limit, music, names, page-a-day, teunis, tv shows, valentine's day, visitors, words
posted by Flami at 6:03:00 PM
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