Just where did that word come from?

By Alan Linda | The Daily Journal

Published Tuesday, June 19, 2007

It's time to look at the origins of some more everyday words which we use and accept as commonplace, words that yet have some unique origins.

The word "honeymoon" popped into usage somewhere around the 14th century, but there are several variations and opinions as to what it really means. One such opinion combines the word "lunar", or moon, with honey, and goes on to insinuate that anyone who gets married stays content for about one lunar cycle, or month, at which point, assumedly, he or she or the both of them go crazy.

Another interpretation is based on an alcoholic beverage, like mead, which is a sweet beer made with honey. This drink, they thought back then, must be consumed for the entire first month of the marriage, not only by the bride and groom, but by any of the village who wants in on the fun, too. Thus, honeymoons became in short order a major excuse for anyone and everyone to stay more or less inebriated for the traditional first month of a couple's union.

The party didn't come to an end, says yet another interpretation, until the bride's monthly period ceased, an indication that she was pregnant and the gods were smiling on the whole operation. Not being pregnant meant yet more celebration, one would assume. The excuse was that the gods must be satisfied.

Of course, it's well known that bridal bouquets were mandatory because bathing had not only not gained much headway on the "unwashed" masses, but was even regarded as outright unhealthy, and might lead to illness. Hence lots of flowers to cover up the smells of the people attending, along with the bride and groom.

It is possible that the expression "the whole nine yards" came about because a bridal gown supposedly wasn't voluminous enough, hence not fancy enough, until the seamstress had inserted at least nine yards of fabric into its billowy construction.

Another expression, "nip and tuck," might be thought to fit here in the overall wedding scene, in regard to some husband escaping marriage, but in fact, it was originally "rip and tuck," and came from the world of sewing.

At some time, some groom had to "face the music," which is an expression that originated in the military— exactly when isn't known — and referred to a dishonorable discharge from service where his uniform was removed forcibly from him and drums played while he was marched away. "Drummed out" is another variation of this expression.

Although this term goes off the subject a bit, the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney (gin and alcoholic beverages are the best I could do in this stream of relativity of words. Sorry) in 1849 always did make me wonder what "gin" had to do with stripping small bolls of cotton off a plant. Nothing, as it turns out. "Gin" was shortened almost immediately after the device was invented from the word "engine." Go figure.

Here's an indication of the way people react to new inventions. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell invented and demonstrated the telephone, which he almost immediately took to Western Union for their approval, seeing as how they already had the telegraph wires up around the country upon which the telephone would easily work.

Western Union said: "Mr. Bell, after careful consideration of your invention, while it is a very interesting novelty, we have come to the conclusion that it has no commercial possibilities." Western Union called it an "electrical toy."

Four years later, America had 60,000 phones, and we were on our way.

I had the opportunity to work for Western Union the year after I graduated from an electronics technology course, and some of the work we did in 1964 was to tear out those old abandoned telegraph stations. Western Union showed their lack of business acumen again in the 60s, and bet that American businesses would want their documents in typed form. They invested heavily in "telex" equipment, which meant that someone typed on one end of the line, and the document typed itself out on the other end. This decision was the last boneheaded move they would make, because the fax machine pretty well destroyed them and their inability to correctly guess the future.

Back to the phone for a moment. It was thought that Edison invented the word "hello" just specially for answering the phone when it — gasp! — rang. In fact, the first operators answered by saying "Ahoy!" Only later did the traditional "hallo" get changed to "hello."

Goodbye originally was God be with you, spelled Godbwye back before we had English teachers.

So, goodbye.

Alan Linda writes a column from his home in New York Mills.