Queer Origin Of Some Words

"Oh, dear!" is equivalent to "O dio mió," "O my God." "Thimble" was originally "tbumb bell," the thimble formerly having been worn on the thumb. "Slav" is not the "sla ve" of the old etymologists, but, in reality, a person of noble lineage. "Rotton Row, " the famous London Street gained its name by being called la route du rot;" in English, "the Kinp's way." "Dandelion" is dent de leon, "the lion'8 tooth. " and "vinegar" was once vin aigre (sour wine). "Madame" is "my lady," and "sir" has been extracted from the Latin "senior" through the French. "Bisouit" keeps alive the Latin phrase, bis coches, "twicecooked. " and a "verdict" is simply a veré dictum (true saying). An "earl" was an "eider" in primitive society, while "pope" is the same as "papa," and czar" and "kaiser" are both Caesars. A "vlllain, " before the stigma of disgrace was attached to him, was simply a laborer on the "villa" of a Roman country gentleman. "Huzzy" once meant a respectable housewife; a "knave" was simply a boy. "Jimminy" is a reminiscence of the classical adjuration, "O gemini, " ased by the Romans when they called upon the twins, Castor and Pollux, to help them. "Lord" is the old Anglo-Saxon "hlaford" (loaf distributer). The Latin term for "Lord" is Dominus, which has given us "dominie, " the old term for preacher.