#3 from www.wordorigins.org
1. Curfew
The word curfew originates in the medieval practice of ringing a bell at a fixed time in the evening as an order to bank the hearths and prepare for sleep. It comes from the Anglo-Norman coeverfu, the equivalent of the Old French cuevre-fe, or cover fire.
(Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition)
2. Dirt Poor
This term is American in origin and dates to at least 1937. The exact reference is uncertain, but it is most likely to be evocative of the dust bowl and the extreme poverty and unclean conditions in which many had to live during the Depression.
The bit of internet lore about Life in the 1500s claims that dirt poor dates to Shakespearian England where finished floors were rare. This is false.
(Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition)
3. Flying Colors
To come off with flying colors is to achieve great success. It is a military metaphor for leaving the battlefield still in possession of one’s flag. The phrase dates to the 17th century
Some claim a nautical origin for this phrase, but it appears to have got its start among armies, not navies.
(Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition)
4. Hooligan
Hooligan is a variant of the Irish name Houlihan or O hUallachain, and somewhere along the line some street tough of that name left it for posterity. But the specific person whom the term originally referred to has been lost to the ages. Often suggested is a Patrick Hooligan or a Hooley gang who (separately) terrorized a section of London in the 1890s.
(Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition)
5. Hysteria
The root hyster- comes from the Greek word for womb. So, the psychological disturbance termed hysteria was originally believed to be a disease of women and resulted from some disturbance in the uterus.
The adjective hysteric appears in the mid-17th century
(Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition)
6. Mojo
Mojo is originally Black English, first recorded in the mid-1920s. The word mojo is common throughout the American South and the Caribbean. The meaning has always been magic, a charm or amulet, or more broadly power and influence, often sexual power, derived from such a supernatural source.
The exact origin of mojo is unknown, but it seems likely that it is African in origin. Gullah (the dialect of the South Carolina Atlantic islands) has the word moco meaning witchcraft or magic. And the Fula language of Africa has the word moco’o meaning a shaman.
(Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd Edition)
7. Martini
It is often thought that the name of this famous cocktail comes from the brand name Martini & Rossi, makers of vermouth. While the Martini & Rossi brand influenced the naming of the drink, it is not the ultimate origin.
Instead, martini is a toponym, named after its place of invention, Martinez, California (a small city northeast of San Francisco). It was originally known as the Martinez cocktail, a 1:2 mix of gin and sweet vermouth with maraschino cherry juice and bitters...the same as a Manhattan, only you substitute gin for whisky.The name had shifted to martini by 1887. By 1903, the dry martini that we are familiar with today had come into existence.
The first US trademark for Martini & Rossi was filed in 1882. The brand name certainly influenced the shift from Martinez to the modern martini.
(Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition)
8. Off the Wall
The phrase off the wall, meaning wild, crazy, or eccentric is first attested to in F.L. Brown’s 1959 Trumbull Park:
We all said thanks in our own off-the-wall ways.
And:
Not that off-the-wall holy-roller kind of clapping.
There is an earlier use from 1953 in the title of a blues tune by Marion “Little Walter” Jacobs. But since this tune is instrumental with no lyrics, the sense of the title is ambiguous. It may be intended in the sense of odd, or it may literally mean something taken down from a wall.
The originating metaphor is unknown, but it likely refers to some sport, a racquet-sport like squash, or perhaps baseball, where a ball may literally be played off the wall, often with wild and unpredictable bounces.
(Source: Historical Dictionary of American Slang)
9. Red Tape
Red tape is excessive bureaucracy or rigid adherence to bureaucratic rules and regulations. But why tape? And why is it red? It is tradition, dating back to the 18th century, to bind government documents together using a red ribbon or tape. There is no particular reason for choosing the color red; it’s just an arbitrary choice.
The association between red tape and bureaucracy was firmly established by the 19th century.
(Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition)
10. Sabotage
Sabotage comes from the French saboter and ultimately from sabot. A sabot is a wooden shoe (it can also mean a type of anti-tank ammunition). The French saboter means to make a noise with sabot, to tramp on, to destroy, especially a piece of music. Around the beginning of the 20th century, the French word began to be applied to the willful destruction of machinery in labor disputes. It is this sense that transferred to English
It is commonly suggested by some that this term for wanton destruction derives from striking workers throwing wooden shoes, or sabot, into machinery in order to destroy it. This belief was popularized when it was repeated in one of the Star Trek movies, but is not substantiated by the evidence. The word does indeed come from sabot, but the etymology is a bit more subtle.
(Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition)
#4
Phonetic Demand | Semantic Demand | Etymological Demand |
hat | sign/signal | Assassin (Muslim) |
tin | crumb/crumble | Quarantine (French) |
cop | autumn/autumnal | Pedigree (French) |
sun | symbol/symbolic | Hazard (Arabic) |
set | medicine/medical | Telephone (Greek) |
#8
Words ending in -ge | Words ending in -dge |
Indulge Bulge Large Barge Rage Cage Sage Age Wage Hinge Singe Lunge Plunge Sponge | Badge Dodge Bridge Ridge Fridge Hedge Pledge Wedge Ledge Fudge Budge Nudge Smudge Grudge |
It appears that in most case is a consonant comes after a short vowel sound then /d/ is not used like in barge.
Also when the vowel is long /d/ is not used like in cage.
When the vowel is short and no consonant follows then the /d/ is used like in wedge.
There seems to be a consistent pattern.
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