Why Are Apartment Tenants Up in Arms?
Who's the Word Guy's word guy -- the person I turn to when I can't find the origin of a word anywhere?
That would be Evan Morris, whose authoritative website, though recently discontinued, has helped me crack three cold cases ...
-- Why do the names of fancy hotels and apartment buildings include the word "arms," as in "The Wellington Arms"?
Back in ye olden days, English inns often took their names from a nearby duke or earl. So that nobleman's heraldic crest or coat of arms would be displayed above the main entrance.
An inn named for the Duke of Pitching, for instance, would be called "The Pitching Arms," presumably a place where you could regularly get three days' rest.
Because Americans assume that anything British imparts a touch of class, they're always eager to give grandiose names to run-of-the-mill apartment buildings.
New York City, for instance, is a real estate octopus with at least eight "Arms": Gramercy, Tudor, Chelsea, Warwick, Cedar, Kingsbridge, Virginia and Lincoln-Spencer, but, fortunately, no Gowanus Canal Arms, Hell's Kitchen Arms or Flushing Arms.
-- Does "pinkie," the word for our smallest finger, have anything to do with the color pink?
Yes. During the 1500s, the Scots language imported two Dutch terms: "pinck," meaning "small," and "pinck oogen," meaning "small eyes" or "half-closed eyes." Soon the Scots began using the term "pinck" to describe anything wee and soon they were calling the tiniest finger a "pinkie."
Meanwhile, "pinck oogen" eventually became "pink eye" in Scots and English, a colloquial term devised because this ocular inflammation makes the eye look half-closed or squinting.
And, because the flower of the species Dianthus was thought to resemble a half-closed eye, it was also called "pink eye" (shortened to "pink"). This flower had a pale red color and thus the hue itself became known as "pink."
So both the finger "pinkie" and the color "pink" ultimately derive from a Dutch word meaning "small." Pinkie promise!
-- What, exactly, is a "rasher" of bacon?
Don't tell my cardiologist, but I like bacon. Sometimes at a restaurant, I've been tempted to order a "rasher of bacon," which I've always assumed meant "a whole bunch."
Oops. Technically, a "rasher" of bacon is a single slice. "Rasher" is probably derived from the French "raser" (to cut or shave), the same word that gives us "raze" and "razor."
Let's look on the bright side. Now I can order a "rasher of bacon" without feeling too guilty.
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Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. His book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.
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