Etymology Facts

Wondered why plumber is spelled with a b? In early dictionaries the b was added to distinguish from the then more common job of plummer, someone who maintained and harvested a plum orchard. Terms like 'plummer', 'appler', and 'peacher' fell out of fashion as orchards grew in size and diversity and required more workers in different positions, though Plummer has survived as an occupational surname, such as the actor Christopher Plummer.

The given name "Dick" is a transliteration of the Dutch name Dyck, and the surname "van Dyke" is a transliteration of the Dutch surname "van Dyck". So if famous London actor Dick Van Dyke was born in the Netherlands, he would have been named Dyck van Dyck.

Charlie Brown's full name is Charles Entertainment Brown.

'Endearment' was likely originally spelled 'endeerment' and initially referred to the act of mounting a stuffed deer head or deer skull to one's wall. As such objects lent their owner a great deal of prestige and status, they were typically given pride of place in the households of those who could afford them. In 17th century literature the term was frequently used metaphorically, to mean giving a person or thing pride of place in your home or heart, which in time warped into the modern usage of 'endearment' and its current derivations.

'Problem' is such a strange-looking word because it's a rare loanword from Dutch, originally spelled 'probleem'. Tragically, scholars do not know how the word was originally used owing to Dutch being a dead language.

What's the difference between a bangle and a bracelet? Historically, one was for fashion and one was for protection. Bracelets were originally a type of armour, a derivative of the earlier and larger bracer, which was used for guarding one's forearms in battle. The idea of wearing bracelets as fashion was alien to Europe until such fashions were imported from India in the eighteenth century. It is believed 'bangle' is a corruption of 'Bangla', also known as Bengal, where English traders first came across the jewellery.

The original meaning of 'media' in English was "visions, hallucinations, strange unreal imagery" - the term 'medium' as in a psychic comes from the same origin. If you use this original meaning of 'hallucinations', terms like 'mass media' and 'digital media' become oddly prescient in a haunting way.

The "Philly" in "Philly cheesesteak" does not refer to Philadelphia but to the food's creator, Alvin Chester Philly, who ironically first sold the sandwich in a stall in New York.

Big Ben was originally one of many "Bens" across England. Up until the early twentieth century, a 'ben' was a specific type of bell, typically the largest bell in a belltower used to mark the hour in a town or village. Few of these 'village bens' are known as such today, but they can take solace in that at least one such Ben is known all around the world.

The cucumber is actually only one of many different kinds of cumber! Up until the early nineteenth century, "cumber" was used to refer to any large vegetable that grew from a vine, including cucumbers, many species of gourds including marrows, pumpkins, squash, eggplants, bell peppers (still called capsicumber or capsicum in some regions), and even some species of melon. The word likely fell from use owing to its ambiguity - since cumbers varied so greatly in appearance and taste and even scientific classification, alternative names proved far more useful for identifying and selling each individual cumber.

The famous Japanese "katsu" dishes such as chicken and pork katsu actually have their origins in Europe. The dishes are named in honour of famous samurai general Honda Tadakatsu (本多 忠勝), who learnt the technique of breading and frying meat from Portuguese traders and popularised it as a cheap and effective way of feeding his soldiers.

Ever wondered why "gif" is 'officially' pronounced "jif"? The 'soft-g' pronunciation actually came about as an inside joke among the format's creators at CompuServe. In the late 1980s, the engineering team behind the GIF format's direct supervisor was the New Zealand-born Geoff Mitchell. Mitchell was unpopular with the team, who considered him controlling and overly demanding and criticised his limited experience with software. After the name "Graphics Interchange Format" was selected, a team member noted the similarities between 'gif' and how Mitchell pronounced "Geoff" owing to his thick New Zealand accent. The joke spread quickly throughout the team, until everyone internally was using the "jiff" pronunciation, including Mitchell himself.