Cordon Bleu

Originally the "Cordon Bleu" ("blue ribbon") comes from L'Ordre des Chevaliers du Saint Esprit, an elite group of French knights created in 1578. Each member was awarded the Cross of the Holy Spirit, which hung from a blue ribbon.

At the end of the 19th century a French culinary magazine, La Cuisinière Cordon Bleu, was published. The magazine began offering lessons by some of the best chefs in France. This grew to become a cooking school that opened in Paris in 1895 and which became recognized as one of the most elite cooking schools in the world.

By extension it refers now to a cook of the highest class.

 

No Husband for married feminist!

Husband - originally "husbonda" replaced during the 13th century the Old English word wer (married man," companion of wifcomes).  

It was probably borrowed from Old Norse husbondi meaning "master of the house," from hus "house"  and bondi "householder, dweller, freeholder, peasant,". 

 A lot of woman are married but do they really have a husband? 

A little water: Cheers!

The word Vodka comes from Poland and is first recorded in 1405. It comes from "Voda" meaning "water" and "ka" being a diminutive form. Therefore it means litterally "Little Water".

Interestingly enough it was originally brought to Russia as a medicinal drink!

By the way Whiskey also has a rather similar etymology. It comes from the Gaelic word uisgebeatha, which means “water of life.” That makes you wonder about the colour of actual water in the old days!

Disaster: Blame it on the stars!

The word Disaster can first be found in english in1590s, borrowed from by French "désastre" and comes originally from Italian "disastro" meaning "ill-stared". 

The sense is astrological, of a calamity blamed on an unfavorable position of a planet. So next time you hear about natural disaster you might want to turn to an astronomer rather than a weatherman.

Posh names for simple meat

Why do we eat beef, mutton and pork but the actual animals are called cow, sheep and pig. The differentiation dates from the Norman invasion. 

The peasant spoke the Anglo-saxon common language where animal and meal were called the same way: cow, sheep,pig... 

The upper classes, who had enough money to eat the meat, wanted to sound fancy and agreeable to  the conqueror by using his language (French) to describe what they were eating: beef from the french boeuf, mutton from mouton and pork from porc.  

 Nevertheless for the less expensive meat that could be also eaten by the less fortunate, the name remained unchanged (e.g. Chicken) and is just as tasty!

Robots: are they really slaves?

Robot comes from Czech "robotnik " which means slave and "robota" meaning "serf labor" Traditionally the "robota" was the work period a serf had to give for his lord (typically 6 months of the year).

The word "robot" was introduced in its actual meaning by the Czech writer Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), published in 1920. The play begins in a factory that makes artificial people called robots (Androids) who can think for themselves and seem happy to serve. By extension, the word got used to refer to any mechanical or virtual artificial agent, guided by a computer program.

Barbarian!

Nowadays when we think of barbarians the first that comes to mind is a probably an Arnold Schwarzenegger (in his best day) looking person wearing a minimal fur garment.
 

Barbarian actually comes from the Greek word βάρβαρος (barbaros). Ancient Greeks thought that when non-Greek people spoke they sounded like a bleating sheep (Bah-Bah-Bah) and not being very clever.

No Clue!

Originally "Clue" is a derivation from the medieval word "Clew", meaning ball of thread. 

 
The reason why clue gets his actual meaning comes from classical mythology. The hero Theseus was given a ball of thread to help him find his way out of the labyrinth of Minos. By following the trail of thread he left behind him he was able to navigate his way to the exit. 

The word clue then became associated with anything which might hint at the solution.

Such a beautiful flower: the Orchid!

The name orchid for the well-know delicate flower is fairly new as it was introduced in 1845. It comes from the Greek "orchis", which literally translates as “testicle.” 

If you are wondering why this name was chosen for such a beautiful, delicate flower, take a look at some orchids’ roots.

Beach

The word "Beach" can be found in the 1530's. It meant "loose, water-worn pebbles of the seashore" and extended around 1590 to "loose, pebbly shores". 

This probably comes from Middle English bache, bæcche (“bank, sandbank”), and from Old English bæċe, beċe (“beck, brook, stream”). In dialect around Sussex and Kent, beach still has the meaning "pebbles worn by the waves.

Picnic an old potluck!

The word "Picnic" comes from the 17th century french "Pique-Nique". It is the association of two words: Pique, an abbreviation of "Picorer" (Peck, eat like a bird) and Nique (something of few value). 

Originally, it could take place either outside or inside, as long as each participant was bringing his own food. This is the true ancester of our potluck!

Gorilla

The world gorilla derives from Greek Γόριλλαι (Gorillai) meaning  "tribe of hairy women". 

A translation of a report written by Hanno, Carthaginian navigator,  who voyaged before 480 b.c., and went as far as Sierra Leone in his explorations mention this word. In the Greek translation of his report he tells of seeing Gorillai, the name of which he allegedly learned from local informants and which he thought were members of a tribe of hairy women.

Rather than women it is alleged he probably had an incounter with the great apes. It makes you wonder how greek women looked in those days!

Conclave

A conclave is a place where cardinals are locked until they elect a new pope. The word was already used in the XIVth century and comes from Latin:  con- "together" and clavis "a key". 

Avocado

An avocado  is a pear-shaped fruit with dark green, leathery skin, a large stony seed, and greenish-yellow edible pulp. 

Originally the Aztecs called this fruit ahucatl after their word for testicle. This is may be partly due to the fruit's resemblance to a testicle, but also because it was supposedly believed to be an aphrodisiac. To the Spaniards ahucatl sounded like avocado (=advocate, Spanish), and so the fruit came to Europe, via Spain, under that name. 

Quarantine

Quarantine is a state, period, or place of isolation in which people or animals that have arrived from elsewhere or been exposed to infectious or contagious disease are placed.

This comes from the venitian word "quarantena"  meaning  40 days. Originally when a ship arriving in port was suspected of being infected with a malignant, contagious disease, its cargo and crew were obliged to forego all contact with the shore for a period of around forty days. This term came to be known as period of quarantine.

From pot smoker to assassin...

An assassin is a murderer, generally somewhat professional; especially one who murders a prominent figure.

This word has a long history going back to the Crusades. The members of a secret Muslim sect engaged people to terrorise their Christian enemies by performing murders as a religious duty. 

These acts were carried out under the influence of hashish, and so the killers became known as hashshashin, meaning eaters or smokers of hashish. Hashshashin evolved into the word assassin.

Funny english word: Kerfuffle!

Kerfuffle means a commotion or fuss, especially one caused by conflicting views

It started to be used early 19th century. It probably comes from Scots curfuffle, equivalent to ker- +‎ fuffle, or related to Irish cior thual ("char athwart: confusion, disorder"). Similar to modern Welsh cythrwfl ("uproar, trouble, agitation")

Funny english word: Discombobulate!

Discombobulate is an American English, fanciful coinage of a type popular in 1834. It means to confuse someone.

Sideburns or Burnsides?

The name sideburns comes from Ambrose Burnside, a Union general in the Civil War. He sported some truly epic facial hair. 

It was such a distinctive look that people began referring to the style as "burnsides," which eventually slid around to become "sideburns".

Boycott

We all know that a boycott is "an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest"  (Wikipedia)


But the word "boycott" is quite recent and entered the English language during the Irish "Land War". It comes from the name of Charles Boycott, the land agent of an absentee landlord. He was subject to social ostracism organized by the Irish Land League in 1880 after he tried to evict eleven tenants from the land. Despite the difficult economical situation, all other tenants and employees refused to perform further work for him.