Susie Dent on icky words
Lots of common English words and phrases have a surprisingly 'icky' origin - our lexicographer rounds up the secret stories behind them.
Lots of common English words and phrases have a surprisingly 'icky' origin - our lexicographer rounds up the secret stories behind them.
There’s a lot of talk about the ‘ick’ factor these days. One person can give another the ick simply by wearing double denim or loudly slurping their coffee. The mere sound of the word tells you all you need to know, and it has never been anything good.
Anyone feeling a little off-colour in the Roaring Twenties might have described themselves as being ‘icky-poo’, while the Hepcats Jive Talk Dictionary of 1945 bluntly describes an ‘icky Vicky’ as ‘a stupid gal’ – a comment that could have come straight out of Love Island.
As it turns out, English is full of ick. Not just in the gooey and yucky words out there (‘moist’, take a bow), but in some of its secret stories too. It turns out we speak of ickiness on a daily basis, often without realising it.
I’ll start, if I may, with blood. I always find it remarkable that the earliest uses of ‘thrilling’ someone involved piercing them not with excitement, but with a sword. That’s because the earliest meaning of ‘thrill’ was a ‘hole’ (it is also why our nostrils were originally ‘nose-thrills’, or nose-holes). Quite dramatic, really, but at least it’s not ‘dreary’, a term that has taken quite a journey, from the Old English dreor, meaning ‘flowing blood’, to something achingly dull.
Many word-lovers will know that ‘humble pie’ was originally a joke on ‘umbles’: the poorer bits of meat served to peasant-folk as opposed to the choice cuts made available to their ‘betters’. Still, they might have enjoyed their pudding, even if in those days that would have been a savoury dish made from the guts of an animal. ‘Pudding’ comes from the Romans’ word botulus, ‘sausage’, also at the heart of ‘botulism’.
At this point I usually mention breaking wind, for English is Windy City when it comes to that particular bodily function.
To ‘fizzle’ first meant to break wind quietly, while pumpernickel bread takes its name from the German for ‘farting demon’. ‘Feisty’, meanwhile, was first applied to a cosseted and rather windy lapdog.
As for being hoisted by one’s own petard, let’s just say that the metaphor of being blown up by one’s own firework is based on a rather different kind of explosion and the French péter, to ‘fart’.
It gets worse I’m afraid. The very first meaning of ‘squirt’ was ‘looseness or laxity of the bowels’. No connection, you’d hope, to a bowl of steaming lasagna, yet the story of that dish begins with the Latin lasanum, meaning a chamber pot. I like to think that its transfer to the name of a cooking pot must have been a bad joke about a Roman chef’s cooking.
The ick goes on. Lovers of avocado might not like to know that the exotic fruit is named after the Aztecs’ word for ‘testicles’, thanks to its shape. Orchids, similarly, were inspired by the Greek orchis, a word that once again denoted a man’s twiddle-diddles. And, if you are partial to a bowl of pot pourri in your house, please forget the fact that its name literally means ‘putrid pot’.
While such scatological stories might make our stomachs churn these days, they would have been considered quite normal in their time. Squeamishness changes with the ages, and the ick dial is turned up and down according to the tastes of the day. All I can do is assure you that none of the above is ‘poppycock’, especially since that word comes from the Dutch for ‘doll’s poo’. Best leave it at that, don’t you think?
[Hero image credit: Michael Leckie]
Including exclusive savings for Saga Magazine subscribers, and a special discount of up to 10% when you book two or more cruises back-to-back.
For a limited time, enjoy 3 issues of Saga Magazine for just £1. Receive the next 3 print editions delivered direct to your door, plus 3 months’ unlimited access to the Saga Magazine app—perfect for reading on the go.
Don’t miss your chance to experience award-winning content at an exceptional price.
The ultimate guide to Saga Puzzles, full of technical tips, tricks and hints.
With the start of the new financial year on 6 April, our money expert explains the changes to your pension, benefits and taxes.
