EIGHT LESSONS YOU MAY NEVER LEARN IN A CLASSROOM

THINGS YOU MAY NEVER LEARN IN A CLASSROOM

Note 1: EUPHEMISM

Euphemisms are “unpleasant truths wearing diplomatic cologne”, says the writer, Quentin Crisp. The word, ‘euphemism’ comes from the Greek words, ‘eu’ which means ‘well’ and ‘phemi’ which means ‘speaking’. ‘Phemi’ itself comes from the root ‘phenai’ (to speak) which is also where the word ‘prophet’ comes from.
Several other English words start with ‘eu’ (meaning well). Thus ‘eucalyptus’ means ‘well covered’ because the unopened flower is protected by a sort of cap. 
To give a ‘eulogy’ is to speak well of someone. The ‘logy’ part of that word, as in many English words, comes from the Greek word, ‘logos’ which means ‘speech, word or reason’.
Something ‘euphonious’ is that which is pleasing to the ear; from the word ‘phone’ from the Greek root which means ‘sound’. 
What then is ‘euthanasia’? It means an ‘easy death’ as ‘thanatos’ means ‘death’ in Greek.
(Source: “The Origins of Words and Phrases” published by Readers Digest)

THINGS YOU MAY NEVER LEARN IN A CLASSROOM

Note 2:

Origin of the word, ADMIRAL

I bet you never knew the naval rank of admiral has Arabic and Muslim roots. Okay, you are about to know now. Admiral was first recorded in the 13th Century as reference to an ‘emir’ or Muslim commander, which word itself is from the Arabic word, ‘amir’.

The Arab word was used in different titles and ranks such as ‘amir-al-bahr’, meaning commander of the sea and ‘amir-al-ma’, meaning commander of the water.

Western scholars, did not realise that the ‘-al-‘ part of the word merely meant ‘of the’ and in their ignorance believed that the ‘amir-al’ was a single word that meant commander. They then anglicised it as ‘admiral’.

The modern maritime use comes from the Arabic creation in Spain and Sicily as ‘Ameer of the Sea’. This was later adopted by the Genoese and the French and later by the English under King Edward III as ‘Amyrel of the Se’ or ‘Admiral of the Navy’. From 1500 the word had been standardised as ‘admiral’ and used as a rank in the Navy.

(Source: “The Origins of Words and Phrases”, published by Reader’s Digest).

THINGS YOU MAY NEVER LEARN IN A CLASSROOM

(By Obo Effanga)

Note 3:

May, May Day and the other May Days…

May is the fifth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar (the modern and most widely-used calendar). The name comes from the word, ‘Maia’, believed in Greek Mythology to be one of the seven daughters of the Titan Atlas. In Roman Mythology, Maia was known as ‘Maia Majesta’, a goddess of fertility and of the spring who is believed to have given her name to the month of May.

May Day has three different meanings. It originally refers to the public holiday celebrated on May 1 to mark the ancient Spring Festival in many countries in the Northern Hemisphere. The celebration featured many events such as dancing, singing and cake sharing. The practice has existed since the 13th century. It also featured the election of a beautiful girl as May Queen or Queen of the May to preside over the springtime festivities.

In the late 19th century, the Socialists and the Communists adopted May 1 as Workers’ Day. Why was May 1 adopted as workers’ day? The answer comes from an incident in Chicago, USA on Tuesday May 4, 1886.

On that day, a peaceful rally was being held in support of workers insisting on not more than eight hours of work in a day. This call, known as the Eight Hour Movement had over the years insisted on "Eight hours' labour, Eight hours' recreation, Eight hours' rest". The May 4 rally was also a reaction to the killing of several workers by the police the previous day. In the process, an unknown person threw a dynamite at police personnel trying to disperse the crowd. This led to the death of seven police officers and four civilians. That incident was known as the Haymarket affair, Haymarket massacre or Haymarket riot.

There is yet another May Day, or rather ‘mayday’ which is a distress call by persons in danger or distress. A mayday signal is sent out from a ship or aircraft in distress, calling for urgent help.

Why is this called Mayday? It is a corruption of the French expression, “m’aider”, a short form of “venez m’aider” which means “come and help me”.

THINGS YOU MAY NEVER LEARN IN A CLASSROOM

(By Obo Effanga)

Note 4:

From Burnsides to sideburns…

What do you call the style of keeping patches of facial hair grown on the sides of the face, extending from the hairline to below the ears? No prize for getting it. It is called sideburns! It is also called sideboards or side whiskers (or mutton chop, where they terminate at the corners of the mouth). Note however that once the facial hair extends from ear to ear via the chin they cease to be called sideburns. In such instance, it is called a beard, chinstrap beard, or chin curtain.

But where did the name sideburns come from? This is where you would be amazed. Sideburns was originally referred to as ‘burnsides’.

Burnsides was so called from 1870s in reference to a certain American civil war general, Ambrose E. Burnsides (23 May 1824 - 13 September 1881). Burnsides spotted that style of facial hair, making it highly popular. General Burnsides actually spotted the hairstyle with moustache but with time and with changing fashion, the moustache no longer necessarily went with that facial hairstyle.

In the 1880s however, the name had become reversed from burnsides to sideburns.

THINGS YOU MAY NEVER LEARN IN A CLASSROOM

(By Obo Effanga)

Note 5:

Paraphernalia

Paraphernalia refers to apparatus, trappings, appurtenances or accessories etc. associated with any particular position or office. It is often considered as superfluous though. But the word has a deeper meaning than that. It comes from the Greek word, ‘parapherna’ which refers to a woman’s ‘property apart from a dowry’.

Until the Married Women’s Property Act was passed in England in the 19th Century, the practice was that a married man became owner of all that the wife had. However, there was exception to this practice or rule. A wife was allowed to keep her personal belongings such as clothes and jewellery which she was allowed to keep after her husband’s death.

The word later translated to a person’s personal belongings and also to items needed for or associated with some activities, hence the expression, ‘paraphernalia of office’.

(Source: “The Origins of Words and Phrases” published by Readers Digest)

THINGS YOU MAY NEVER LEARN IN A CLASSROOM

(By Obo Effanga)

Note 6: CAMERA

Smile, you are on camera! That’s a ubiquitous sign you see in many public spaces in countries like the UK, assuring you that a closed circuit television (CCTV) camera is operating to capture any possible incident. But guess where the name ‘camera’ comes from and what it originally meant?

Camera was originally a Latin word and referred to a vault or a chamber. Back in the years, in Italy and Spain, camera was the name of a council, legislative or judge’s chamber. This explains the expression, to see “someone in camera” which meant that rather than consider a matter in the open court, the judge did so in his/her judge’s private chamber, which usually adjoins the courtroom.

As you wonder what all these have to do with what we understand the camera to mean today, here is the answer. The use of the word, ‘camera’ in relation to photography comes from the name ‘camera obscura’ which means ‘dark chamber’. This was the Latin name of a device for projecting an image of external reality onto a flat surface.

So, smile, even if you are not on camera.

THINGS YOU MAY NEVER LEARN IN A CLASSROOM

(By Obo Effanga)

Note 7: SLOGAN

Many of us will easily identify the word ‘slogan’ with advertising and more particularly, with campaigns, especially as they relate to politics and electioneering. However, like many words and expressions, ‘slogan’ has its own distinct history. It comes from Scottish Gaelic word ‘sluagh-ghairm’ which means a battle cry.

In the Scottish Gaelic language, sluagh translates to ‘army’ and gairm means ‘shout’. So sluagh-ghairm meant a shout meant to ginger the soldiers into action. It was not until the early 19th century that the expression gained a seeming global usage based on the literary works of Sir Walter Scott and later on came to refer to a short memorable motto or catch-phrase. By then also, it had become pronounced and spelled as ‘slogan’.

THINGS YOU MAY NEVER LEARN IN A CLASSROOM

By Obo Effanga

Lesson 8: Comrade

What does the word 'comrade' mean?

If a companion is, literally, someone you share bread with, then a 'comrade' is someone you share a room with. The origin of the word is the Spanish word, 'camarada' which means a room mate. It comes from the Latin word, 'camera' which means 'a room'.

Your comrade was originally someone who shared the same room or tent as you, often a fellow soldier.

Source: "The Origins of Words & Phrases" published by Reader's Digest.