The massive Oxford English Dictionary is, practically speaking, the official and exhaustive guide to the words of the English language. John Simpson, the Chief Editor, is retiring after 37 years with the project. He's spent decades tracking down the origins of different words. Simpson wrote in BBC News about his favorite word origins, such as etaoin shrdlu:
Etaoin shrdlu is an expression well known to newspaper compositors and little-known to readers.
It comes from the same stable as Anthony Burgess's Homage to Qwert Yuiop. Qwertyuiop is what you find on a computer screen (or, in the old days, on a typewriter) if you run your fingers along the top row of letters on a keyboard.
Etaoin shrdlu is the equivalent sequence of letters that an old-style Linotype printing machine operator would have put out by running his (or her) finger down the first two (leftmost) columns of Linotype keys.
But etaoin shrdlu had a purpose. The Linotype operator would hit these keys intentionally to signal that an error had been made and the preceding line should be removed from the type before it was printed.
Sometimes the type-setters and proofreaders were asleep and missed this alarm bell.
At the link, you can read about the origins of the words pom, pal, nacho and more.
Link -Thanks, Virginia!
(Photo: zigazou76)
Comments (4)
Several years ago one of my colleagues was busy researching the word nacho, the tortilla chip.
She combed the books and newspapers, and roamed from eating house to eating house, restaurant to restaurant, in search of the true origin.
Along the way she found many references to a Mexican chef, Ignacio (= "Nacho") Anaya, who worked on the north-east border of Mexico in the 1940s.
The first reference we found for nacho came from a Texan newspaper of 1948. It might all fit. But there is still that seed of doubt.
At the last moment we had to pull back from claiming that Nacho Anaya was the chef behind the tortilla. Close, but no cigar - as yet.
this says nothing about what the insect will do in your Gut. Which I do not think they would survive.
I believe it is not kosher to eat insects. The video was made for jewish people who make very sure their diet is kosher.
Yeah they're tiny little things, but just the thought of it....sigh
Now one may safely eat the berry without the worry of incurring Divine wrath. Most likely.
As someone else said, we have billions of living things squirming around our bodies. Adding one more that will be unnoticed and quickly die, shouldn't be a big deal to anyone. Our bodies were honed to survive in much harsher and less hygienic conditions than we have today.
Now I'm all for giving fruits and vegetables a once over with water, but this is extreme.
I once went to a taco place with someone who refused to eat the food, citing a bug she'd found in her meal once. All she would have was a Snapple, which was colored with carmine. I told her what that is after she drank it.
Then I remembered I drink drinks with carmine and that I wasn't dead from eating strawberry bugs and I calmed down.
Those little buggies don't stand a chance.
So yes, I do wash my produce--but not because of strawberry bugs.
I always soak my berries in a mixture of water and salt or water and cider vinegar for about 10-15 minutes and then rinse well prior to eating. I also usually cut the tops off strawberries prior to soaking. I wonder if this is sufficient to kill the bugs?