Origin and First Use of Words in English

I've always wondered where some of the words in the English language came from.
Where did the word 'bomb' originate from? How about 'jukebox?' I've always thoug
ht that some of the words used in the English language were just randomly made u
p, and even though that is mostly true, there had to be some time when the words
were first used! When, where, why, how, and who used 'bomb' for the first time?
Do any other words have interesting origins as well? Find out here!
Bomb - This word nowadays has so many uses. It can be used as a noun to describe
an explosive device, or it can be used to describe a person "That guy... He's t
he bomb!" It can be even used as a verb that means to blow something up or even
to describe how you flunked a test. But where did this word come from, and why?
It turns out it was actually first used by a critic to describe a horrible play
in New York during the 1920s. The term, first used by Grevile Corks, became so p
opular that he started the Bomb of the Year Award for the worst plays in Broadwa
y.
Jukebox - Who cares about this word anyway? Well normally you wouldn't care abou
t this word unless you understood how it first came to be. In New Orleans, juke
is slang for having sex. Jukebox got its name because they were popular in prost
itution houses called Juke Joints.
Robot - The word Robot comes from the word Robot, which is a Czech word that mea
ns "worker." In 1923, a Czech science fiction writer, Carl Kapek, first populari
zed the word when he wrote a book in which the machines have taken over the worl
d. In his book, the machines have implanted circuits in humans, turning them int
o mindless "robots."
Science - Science in the past was considered as a type of knowledge that was rel
ated to philosophy. From early 1200s to the 1840s science was referred to as Nat
ural Philosophy. It wasn't until the 1840s that people started using the word Sc
ience, derived from the latin word scientia. Even then, science and philosophy w
ere used interchangeably. It wasn't until later that the use of the word science
and the use of the word philosophy became different.
Haywire - In farms and ranches, the farmers would wrap bales of hay around with
tightly strung wires in order to for them to be more easily stored and transfere
d. In some occasions, the wire would snap, whipping out wildly and injuring anyo
ne nearby.
Slush fund - Sailors originally used the word "Slush" for the name of the kitche
n grease found in the galleys of the ships. The slush was collected and most of
it was used to lubricate the masts and other parts of the ship, the rest of the
slush was sold with other garbage when the ship entered port. The money made fro
m selling the garbage was called the "slush fund," which was used on buying more
useful items.
Broke - The origin of this word is interesting, as it is a word used to describe
someone that has no money. Before there were credit cards, banks in Europe woul
d issue porcelain "burrower's tiles" that was used to borrow money. They were ti
les that had the name of the borrower, his credit limit and the name or logo of
the bank. Whenever a person wanted to borrow money, he would show the bank his t
ile and if the borrower was past his credit limit, the teller "broke" his tile o
n the spot.
Woman or Wife - These words have a funny origin. They originally came from the t
wo Anglo-Saxon words "wifan" and "mann" which meant "weaver" and "human." Combin
ed, they make wifmann, which means Weaver-Human. So the word Wife comes from a w
ord that meant Weaver, and the word Woman comes from Weaver-Human. Women, I gues
s, didn't do much back then but weave things all day. You can make jokes on this
all day.
Husband - Comes from the German words "Hus" and "Bunda" meaning "House" and "Own
er." I guess men didn't do much back then but own houses all day, still, that de
finitely beats weaving all day.

Written by: PeonHero on 2/26/11