nocto

word origins is one of many etymology sites on the web and since i’m fascinated by how language has evolved and continues to evolve the common errors in popular etymology page is especially interesting.

it explains the fact that there are just about no words that were derived from acronyms before the twentieth century – the commonly cited posh and pommie are just about certainly false – and then gives a couple of examples that appear to break the rule: ichthys from the 2nd century and cabal from the 17th century, but these words existed earlier and the creation of acronyms for them merely popularised them.

mainly i’m glad that i’ve found out why texan’s wear ten gallon hats. the hats clearly can’t contain ten gallons.

the gallon in ten-gallon hat derives from the spanish galón, meaning braid. so a ten-gallon hat is a hat with braiding around the brim.

i’m very glad that one is cleared up! (though do they have ten braids around the brim? a ten threaded braid?)

i think this is a really sad story. india’s police pigeon service is being disbanded.

the government’s audit department now believes that the service – employing some 800 birds – has become redundant with the advent of e-mail and electronic communication.

i’m not entirely convinced by this as the report also mentions that the carrier pigeon’s finest hours have been in times of floods and cyclones when radio networks are disrupted. i can still see times when the pigeons will get through and the email won’t.