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Word Origins

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Polly1958
Does anyone know the meaning, or origin of this word/name? Pampletine Cliffs are a feature of Filey,but no one seems to know how they got their name. http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/...
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HowardKennitby
Derogatory colloquial Swedish term for someone who has effectively drunk themselves to death. No actual derivation other than hearing it on an episode of 'Wallander' and asking a Swedish contact about...
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bibblebub
Here in the UK we call them mobile phones, in the US they are cell phones. But what about the rest of the world? Do they side with mobile or prefer the term cell, or something completely different...
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retrocop
Can any one explain the origin of this saying please.I believe it is 18th or 19th C naval term to mean creating a disturbance or exhubrant merry making.But why "Bob's a dying?"...
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pinstripe
Why is a cash register called a till?...
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Outtheway
Can anyone advise as to what a translation of "i am not lost, I did not fall" would be in Latin? Many thanks in advance!...
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DSJ
The abbreviation for Northamptonshire is Northants. I had always wondered about Hampshire & its abbreviation, Hants. Now my suspicions are confirmed. The full name for Hampshire is actually...
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whiskeryron
Northumbria/Northumberland I have always thought that the name of this area could have been coined from the Roman invasion when some of the troops may have come from Umbria in Italy & saw the area...
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robert551069
I didn't realise, until I heard it on TV yesterday, that "mayday" comes from the French "m'aider" (help me)
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JUNKMAN
Not sure if this is the right section for this - but here goes I have a t shirt that has a picture of a goat eating papers with the above lettering i.e. como una cabra jarta papeles. As far as I can...
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HowardKennitby
phlya_rologist. nonce-wd. [f. Gr. silly talk + -logy + -ist.] A talker of nonsense. 1867 Athenæum 12 Oct. 459/1, I would not meddle with such a phlyarologist....
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HowardKennitby
High-binder transf. Used abusively to denote a swindler, esp. a fraudulent politician. 1890 C. L. Norton Political Amer., Highbinders_applied_to political conspirators and the like. 1903 A. H. Lewis...
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HowardKennitby
snollygoster. (U.S. dial. and slang). This has to be the best word I have found in a long time. Text from OED [Perh. connected with snallygaster, which is, however, of more recent appearance.] A...
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HowardKennitby
I am listening to the cricket and the studio commentators have used 'marmelise' twice in the last few minutes. I am really glad this word seems to be staging a comeback.
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Marijn
Please could someone translate the ingredients for the "Zoethout met Oolong thee" I bought.... 81% Zoethout 18% thee Bevat zoethout. Mensen met een hoge bloeddruk dienen overmatig gebruik te...
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FredPuli43
"It's a big ask but I think we can do it". When did 'ask' become a noun ? Is it's use in this way just a British usage or has it come from some other anglophone country?
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boxtops
Just seen a crossword answer where ruth = pity. How come we hardly ever use the word "ruth", but we frequently say "ruthless"?
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cupid04
Someone offered up this word today [except they spelt it without the 'e'.] on countdown. obviously wrong. Yet when you pronounce vineyard it sounds like v i n y a r d. Where does the word come from...
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lesalies
what is the derivation of rodeo
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Gretnagersh
Does this phrase/saying have racist origins from the 1800's deep south of the usa? Me and a friend was having an in depth conversation about racist terms and we came to "Jigs" which is an...

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