Odd Origins of Words / Odd Words

me_right_one

Uncle SAM - From letters sent to America from Ireland, with Stait Aontaithe Mherica shortened to S.A.M.

grenache

Hysteria - Originally defined as "a neurotic condition peculiar to women and thought to be caused by a dysfunction of the uterus" ("Hysterical").

me_right_one

stovelid wrote: »

I always liked the story (myth?) that the etymology of the word Hooligan was a notoriously lawless Irish family, the Houlihans, in London. Probably not true.

Well given the way the pronounce Ken Dougherty as DOCKerty......

kylith

I'd love to know if anyone has any idea of the etymology of mala/marla; the kid's modelling clay.

goose2005

Hoodlum is a corruption of Noodlum - "Muldoon" backwards, referring to Irish-American gangsters.

me_right_one

kylith wrote: »

I'd love to know if anyone has any idea of the etymology of mala/marla; the kid's modelling clay.

Maybe the boardsie Morlar would know;)

fontanalis

me_right_one wrote: »

Uncle SAM - From letters sent to America from Ireland, with Stait Aontaithe Mherica shortened to S.A.M.

Irish people can be full of ourselves when we want.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_sam

starbelgrade

kylith wrote: »

I'd love to know if anyone has any idea of the etymology of mala/marla; the kid's modelling clay.

Not what you are looking for, but related, from urban dictionary;

Mala head (irish slang)

A person whos head looks like a 3 year old made it from play-dough. Its large and roughly shapen. looks like it was sculpted on the shape of a gimpy rock. not very plesent to look at at all.

mála also irish for bag, term can also be used to display the fact that they're face should have a bag over it because of the fact its just so fugly
'' yo man check tha' fool out, hes gota biggest mawla head ive eva seen dog''

''that girl has a mala head'': stating she has a fine ass body but a ugly face (irish slang version of butterface)

mala head (irish slang) for butterface

Wibbs

We've already had "sinister" which equated to the lefties, so on to "dexterous/dexterity" which of course means fine control etc. Which comes from dexter the latin for right. Even if you're ambidextrous, the righties still win.

To give or the word "gift" means a dowry or price for a wife. Both have similar meanings, so to say "I gave a gift" is like a doubling of it.

"Ketchup" comes from a Chinese word for a sauce.

Clock comes from the middle latin for bell. Welll actually it doesnt. In Irish bell = cloch and we added so many words and grammar to middle latin. Many think this irish word for bell spread with our monks who brought much of the learning back to europe after Rome fell. The word in latin for bell is very different(hyponym). So when you look at the clock on the wall, or say its X o'clock(X of the clock) think on the various mad micks who brought much of the light back to europe where it had been lost. Oh and BTW disregard some explanations that clock is an olde english/saxon word. It shows up in Irish literature many centuries before it shows up in english texts.

Anyhoo, the monks required good timing to keep track of prayer duties throughout the day. So were always open to new tech when it came out. They were also the keepers of knowledge and science at the time. First they muddled through with sun dials. Useful in southern europe, but as much use as a chocolate teapot in the north. Water clocks were the next big leap forward, but they could freeze in the winter. Interestingly the very first reference to a clock as a timekeeper comes from the annals of a church in germany(started by a mick btw ) where a fire broke out. They report the monks ran to the clock to fight the fire. A water clock. No use throwing pendulums at a fire I suppose

Thinking more on my previous example of the term "Dago" as an insulting term for latins, another word, "Wop" comes from "Guapo" in spanish(same in italian IIRC) which actually means cool/cute/good looking. The "Irish are ugly" types should find that somewhat ironic.

oppenheimer1

The Conservative Party or Tory party, from the Irish word toruighe which means robber/plunderer. Unsurprisingly it was originally a derogative nickname.

El_Dangeroso

The word 'cell' as in biology was coined by a man looking through a microscope at a piece of cork. The cell hadn't been discovered yet and he called the tiny compartments he saw under the microscopes cells, because they looked like the small rooms that monks slept in at a monastery.

kylith

starbelgrade wrote: »

Not what you are looking for, but related, from urban dictionary;

Mala head (irish slang)

A person whos head looks like a 3 year old made it from play-dough. Its large and roughly shapen. looks like it was sculpted on the shape of a gimpy rock. not very plesent to look at at all.

mála also irish for bag, term can also be used to display the fact that they're face should have a bag over it because of the fact its just so fugly
'' yo man check tha' fool out, hes gota biggest mawla head ive eva seen dog''

''that girl has a mala head'': stating she has a fine ass body but a ugly face (irish slang version of butterface)

mala head (irish slang) for butterface

Hehe, 'mala head'.

Liam Byrne

starbelgrade wrote: »

Not what you are looking for, but related, from urban dictionary;

Mala head (irish slang)

A person whos head looks like a 3 year old made it from play-dough. Its large and roughly shapen. looks like it was sculpted on the shape of a gimpy rock. not very plesent to look at at all.

mála also irish for bag, term can also be used to display the fact that they're face should have a bag over it because of the fact its just so fugly
'' yo man check tha' fool out, hes gota biggest mawla head ive eva seen dog''

Mála has nothing to do with plasticine (play-dough).

It is, as you said, the Irish for "bag".

Márla is the Irish for plasticine.