Words with Interesting Origins

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*Excerpt from my recently discovered notes from 9th grade #1


Checkmate: `The King is Dead’ in Iran language
Brave: cowardice (as in bravado)
Sophisticated: corrupt
Bus: Omnibus (Latin: for everyone)
Disaster: Greek. `bad star’- ancient Greeks used to blame calamities on unfavorable planetary positions
Nice: Latin. `ignorant’
War: Germanic root. `to confuse’
Mortgage: French root `death pledge’
Goodbye: contraction of an older English phrase `God be with ye’
Adios: `Towards God’

Corridor: Latin currere `running place’
Sarcasm: Greek. `to tear flesh’
Clue: `ball of thread’ Meaning came via the idea of thread being used to guide somebody out of a maze
Daisy: `day’s eye’ because the flower opens in the morning and closes at night
Adolescence: `grow into maturity’
Sinister: `left’ as in left-handed
Nostalgia: the pain for returning home
Robot: Czech `robota’ meaning `forced labor’
Filial piety: Latin. duty of son or daughter
Company: Latin. `to eat together’

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