Alma Mater: We go back to medieval times to find the origin of this
term as applied to schools and colleges. A statue of Mary,
mother of Christ, over the portals of a university in Germany
was known as Alma Mater, fostering mother, and was applied to the
school by its students. Later the term was adopted by all
students and applied to their schools.
Automobile Tire: An automobile tire is so named because in the early days
it was considered "attire" or covering for a wheel.
Basketball: The first game was played by members of the YMCA Training
College at Springfield, Massachusetts, on January 20, 1892,
a few days after their coach, Dr. James A. Naismith, invented
the rules. The game was mainly a scheme to sop up athletic
energies between the ending of the football and the beginning
of the baseball seasons. The original goals were peach baskets.
Players climbed a ladder to retrieve the ball. Pro basketball
was played in 1898. The center jump after each goal was
eliminated a quarter-century ago to cut down the advantage of
sevenfooters.
Bonfire: When wars and pestilence ravaged England during the Middle
Ages, fires for the burning of corpses were daily necessities.
They were called fires of bone or "bonefires." When the custom
of burning heretics at the stake became common, the same term
was applied to pyres of these unfortunate victims. Later,
open-air fires were given the same name, but by this time
a less gruesome spelling was adopted.
Boycott: In Ireland, during the 1880's, there was a land agent for an
English nobleman by the name of Captain Boycott. He must have
been a pretty mean character. His harsh methods of collecting
rents, and immediate eviction of those unable to pay, soon
resulted in the hatred and enmity of all tenants. Thereupon
the tenants and their friends devised a method of ostracism
to meet the conditions. Servants and laborers refused to work
for Captain Boycott; shopkeepers avoided selling him; blacksmiths
would not shoe his horses; and passers-by on the street wouldn't
even nod to him. Shunned by everybody, his life became unbearable,
and he was forced to leave the country, a ruined and embittered
man. With a deeper and more personal connotation than "ostracize" or "excommunication," boycott was immediately accepted into the
English language as a needed word and newspapers soon were
printing it without a capital letter. That is the way it is
printed today.
Bribe: This word once meant "an honest scrap of bread," and its late
Latin form was briba. The French borrowed it and used it in
the sense of "a lump of bread" or "leavings of meals," or
something that might be given to beggars. But its meaning
degenerated morally while acquiring greater importance financially.
When it first came into English it meant "a gifted begged;"
subsequently, "a present." In modern use the "present" frequently
is a large amount of money and its purpose is to corrupt a person
in a position of trust.
Cap and Gown: The general use of caps and hats in Europe came in the
year 1449, when Charles VII of France entered Rouen. When the
cap was of velvet, it was called mortier; when it was wool,
it was called bonnet. None but kings, princes and knights were
allowed to use the mortier. The cap, which was round, was used
as a headdress by the clergy and graduates. When the people began
wearing the cap, the students changed the round cap to a square
one, and it became a symbol that they had acquired full liberty
and were no longer subject to the rod of their superiors.
Cartoon: These numerous drawings were first made n France and drawn
on pasteboard. Pasteboard in French is cartone. This, in English,
became cartoon.
Chairman: The word chairman or the phrase "taking the chair" comes
from the furnishings or customs of the time when the master
of the house and his lady were the only ones who owned or
occupied chairs. The rest of the household, although it shared
a community dining table, sat on stools or at a lower level.
A guest of consequence was honored by being invited to
"take the chair."
Christmas: There are several apparent sources for the word Christmas.
To the early Christians, birthdays were a pagan custom.
It was unthinkable to celebrate one's own birthday, much
less the birthday of Christ. It was sacrilege even to suggest
that a Divine Being had birthday. In the next 300 years this
attitude began to change, and in 354 A.D. the Bishop of Rome
declared December 25 to be the anniversary of the birth of Christ.
The word was derived from the Greco-Latin words christos,
meaning "anointed," and mass, meaning "to send." These two
words taken together developed into the Old English Cristes
Maesse, or "Christ's Mass" denoting the Incarnation. This
derivative has been found to be used as early as 1038.
The abbreviation Xmas had its origin in the fact that the
Greek letter chi was written as an "X."
Christmas Cards: In 1843, Henry Cole of London dreamed up the idea of
sending a Christmas greeting card to his friends, and
originated the first Christmas card. It as a three-panel card
showing a family party in the center. The side panels depicted
the old tradition of feeding and clothing the needy. The
wording, "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year," has never
been surpassed. The idea caught on and by 1860 several greeting
card firms had sprung up in England. In the middle 1870's, Louis
Prang of Boston entered the field with religious cards.
Christmas Tree: There are many legends as to the origin of the
Christmas tree. Reports have it that it first appeared in
Strassburg, Germany, in 1608, and the custom was kept along
the Rhine for 208 years and then spread over all Germany.
Other reports have it that the basic idea of the Christmas
tree goes back to medieval German mystery plays, most popular
of which concerned the sin of Adam and Eve and their
expulsion from paradise. These plays were most often performed
in the open, on large squares in front of churches, or in the
church itself. On such occasions a large fir tree, decorated
with apples, was used to represent the Garden of Eden. When
the plays were performed inside the church the tree was
surrounded by lighted candles. The tree later became popular
in the home when mystery plays were no longer performed.
Curfew: Literally, "cover the fire," from the French couvre le feu.
The peasants of France, during the Middle Ages, were required
to cover or extinguish their fires at night, a bell being rung
to notify them of the exact time this was to be done. The Normans,
when conquering England, extended the meaning of the bell as a
signal for all citizens to leave the streets and public places
and return to their homes.
Dark Horse: This term, now used in politics for a candidate brought
forth at the last moment, had its beginning on the race track.
It seems that a Sam Flynn of Tennessee had a coal black horse
named Dusky Pete. Short of funds, or means of transportation,
Flynn actually rode his horse from town to town, track to track.
While Dusky Pete was sluggish when coming into town, he invariably
snapped out o his apparent stupor on the track and won a great
many races.
Dixie: Here too, the origin of this affectionate nickname for the
southern part of the United States is confused and lost in
varied legend. There are those who think it stems from the
Mason-Dixon line, which was originally established in 1763
to settle a dispute between the lord proprietors Baltimore
and Penn. The names of the surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah
Dixon, were applied to the line which was marked by milestones.
This line later marked the boundaries f the free and slave states.
EtiquetteThe original meaning of the word etiquette is "ticket" or
"label." The French royal court was once noted for its elaborate
functions and for the strict rules of behavior at them. Tickets
were given to persons invited to the court, and on the backs of
the tickets were outlined the formalities expected of guests.
Etiquette, the name of the ticket, eventually was applied to the
rules of court behavior. The word entered the English language
in the seventeenth century and was broadened in meaning-the
rules of proper behavior anywhere in society.
Father's Day: It was in the spring of 1919 that Mrs. John Bruce Dodd
of Spokane, Washington, got the idea for Father's Day-an idea
that came during a Mother's Day sermon that was full of adulation
for motherhood. The preacher was eloquent though he didn't even
mention the word "father." Mrs. Dodd's mother had died when she
was but a mere child and her thoughts naturally turned to her
father who was left with the responsibility of rearing six
children. She thought it would be nice to honor him and others
like him and took her plan to the preacher who drafted a resolution
and on June 10, 1919, the first Father's Day was observed in
Spokane. The first observance of truly national proportions was
in 1922 on the third Sunday of June.
Fiasco: This rather common word which means "failure" comes from the
Italian name for common bottle. It was the practice of ancient
Venetian glass blowers, when noticing the slightest flaw in
the article upon which they were working, to discard it for
later conversion into a common bottle. What might have a beautiful
Venetian vase was now a fiasco. In this manner failure and fiasco
became associated. From fiasco we also get flask and flagon,
other forms of containers.
Filibuster: The word is derived from filibusteros. Originally, the term
was applied to those who for power, loot, or adventure organized
expeditions in the United States for the invasion of
Latin-American countries. These were primarily West Indian pirates
who scourged the southern seas in small craft called "filibotes."
Hence, use of the term for tactics by minorities that oppose
majorities. Currently, filibustering has come to mean a
parliamentary device to delay or prevent action by the majority.
Its philosophical foundation results in the protection of minority
rights. Senate historians say American filibusters of a sort
even occurred in Congress as far back as 1789.
G.I: This nickname for the United States soldier became common during
World War II. Its meaning derives from the words "Government
Issue." The fact that everything a soldier wore, from socks to
tunic, trousers and had, and everything he ate, or was paid,
was issued by the Government of the U.S. made him, in fact,
a complete "Government Issue."
Gobbledygook: This expression first came into use during World War
II and is currently defined to mean "inflated, involved, and
obscure verbiage characteristic of the prounouncements of
officialdom." Congressman Maury Maverick of Texas is given
credit for its invention. When asked how he happened to invent
the word, he said: "Perhaps I was thinking of the old bearded
turkey gobbler back in Texas who strutted around in ludicrous
pomposity while boggedy-gobbling. At the end of his gobbles there
was as sort of gook to serve as an exclamation point."
God Bless You: This phrase is said to have been originated by the devout
Pontiff St. Gregory the Great, who in the year 750 appointed a
form of prayer to be said by persons sneezing. At that time it
was believed that the air was filled with great impurities and
many who sneezed violently were in danger of expelling their souls
and that this danger could be counteracted by a proper prayer
or phrase.
Golf: There are some who claim that gold is a game of Dutch origin and
others who contend it was invented by a Scottish lady who objected
to her husband drinking at home. The earliest mention of golf to
be found in print is contained in Adamson's Mirthful Mournings,
published in 1638.
Good Friday: The day of Jesus' crucifixion probably originally was known
as God's Friday. But whether God's or Good, it was a term that
carried a happy connotation.
Gossip: This word originally denoted a person bound to another by religious
ceremony, such as a sponsor in baptism, and came from Anglo-Saxon
godsibb-sib meaning "related to God." Godparents were expected to
form a close and intimate relationship with the family whose child
they sponsored. The word has degenerated sadly in meaning and from
this mood of confiding intimacy, it has taken on its present
meaning of "newsmonger" or "tattle."
Gymnasium: In their games in ancient Greece, athletes were not impeded by
costumes. Gymnos is the Greek word for "nude"; hence, the word
gymnasium would seem to mean "a place where one might exercise
in the nude."
Hallowe'en: As we know it today, Hallowe'en seems to have begun with the
ancient pagan Druids of Great Britain, who began their ear on
November 1, at which time witches and hobgoblins were supposed
to have had their last fling of the year. With the coming of
Christianity, the "New Year's Day" became "All Saints Day," and
the evening before became known as "All Hallows' Eve." It is from
this mixture of superstition and religion that we get the present
Hallowe'en with its costumes, etc.
Scottish Children first cared jack-o'-lanterns from large turnips
instead of from pumpkins. Also in
Scotland, people believed that women who had sold their souls to
the devil changed into witches on Hallowe'en, and that they flew up
their chimneys on broomsticks, attended by black cats.
It was the Irish who started the custom of going from door to door
asking for food or money. The "trick or treat" custom employed by
children today dates back to seventeenth century Ireland when
peasants sought luxuries for a feast at the doors of the wealthy.
However, the idea of the householder forestalling a prankish trick
by coming across with a treat seems to be strictly an American custom.
Hammock: Sailors who accompanied Columbus to the New World found the Carib
Indians using this device not only for sleeping, but as a means of
transporting their children. Finding these more cool and comfortable
than sleeping on the open deck, the sailors introduced that which
we now call hammocks to their native Europeans upon their return.
The word comes from the Spanish hamaca, of West Indian origin.
Handicap: This would appear to be a contraction of "hand-in-cap," the old
English game which consisted of bartering articles, with contestants
giving "boots" or odds as decreed by an umpire. The players were
required to deposit forfeit money in a cap, and hand-in-cap would
seem to indicate the method of drawing lots.
Horsepower-Power is the rate at which energy is being spent, or the rate at
which work is being done. Though it may be expressed in terms of
horsepower, it bears no exact relation to animal horsepower. What
we term horsepower is so called because it originated from the
results of experiments carried out with strong draft horses by
James Watt more than a century ago. He wished to find out the rate
at which a horse, under average conditions, does its work, and he
fixed this rate, as a round figure, at 550 foot-pounds of work a
second, or 33000 foot-pounds a minute-that is to say, work equivalent
to that needed to raise a weight of 550 pounds one foot high in one
second. Watt took this as the value of one horsepower, although he
realized that it was a higher rate of work than an average horse can
maintain for a full day. Of course, a horse, if stirred by a whip,
can exert a much greater effort but only for a very short time.
Iron Curtain: The phrase was first used by Winston Churchill in a foreign
affairs debate shortly after the Potsdam Conference in 1945.
He described the difficulty of obtaining any reliable information
about what was happening in Eastern Europe because of the iron
curtain, which had divided the Continent. He used the phrase again
a few months later in 1946 in his famous speech at Fulton, Missouri,
when with the President of the United States in his audience.
There are others who claim that the phrase was originated by Mrs.
Ethel Snowden, who later became Lady Snowden, wife of Viscount
Snowden, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer, in 1924. In her book,
through Bolshevik Russia, she had the line "We are behind
the Iron Curtain at last."
Jackpot: This is a term used in the game of draw-poker and describes he
pot (accumulation of money staked by players), which cannot be
opened until a player has a pair of jacks or better.
Labor Day: As we know it, Labor Day in the United States grew out of
September parades held in New York City by the Knights of Labor
in the early 1880's. The first state to establish Labor Day as a
legal holiday was the State of Oregon, which in 1887 set aside the
first Saturday in June as Labor Day. Later in the same year the
states of Colorado, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts followed
suit and set the day as the first Monday in September. In 1894,
Congress declared the day to be a national holiday. The aim of
Labor Day originally was to remind people that the fruits of
industry were the product of brawn as well as brain, and of labor
as well as of capital. Today it seems to be the day that marks the
end of the summer vacation period.
Lobbyist: A person who tries to get laws passed favoring a special-interest
group is know as a lobbyist. The name derives from the fact that
lobbyists spent their time in lobbies of various legislatures trying
to talk to legislator and influence their votes.
Mason-Dixon Line: In popular United States parlance, the Mason-Dixon
boundary divides North from South-an assumption based largely on
the mistaken belief that during the Civil War it separated the
Confederate states from the Union states.
The line was drawn to end an early colonial land dispute. It
extends, from east to west, between Pennsylvania and Maryland,
with a shorter branch reaching southward between Maryland and
Delaware. All three states were on the Union side. The line was
named for two English surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon,
two skilled mathematicians and astronomers.
Memorial Day: That day set apart each year, first by custom and later by
statute, for the purpose of honoring the memory of the soldiers
who fought in the Civil War, is a successor to Decoration Day
which originated with the southern states when flowers were
strewn over the soldiers' graves. After hostilities between the
Union and Confederate forces had ceased, the widows and friends
of the slain southerners showed their sincere love and gratitude
to their fallen heroes in this fashion. This was not confined to
Confederate graves only. These fine women of the South also
decorated the graves of the northern dead. The news of this
touching tribute flashed across the North as a ray of new light
and hope for brotherhood, and in 1868, General John A. Logan, then
Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, showed his
deep admiration of this symbolic custom by issuing an order
designating May 30th of that year as the one on which all posts
of the G.A.R should commemorate the dead of the Civil War by
decorating their graves with floral bouquets and wreaths. Action
was soon taken by the legislatures of the various states and the
30th of May was set aside for the purpose in the majority of states.
Mother's Day: The miss Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia goes the credit for
inspiring national recognition of a day set aside for veneration of
mothers and motherhood. Her mother had been an active worker in the
church and community affairs of the small Virginia town where she
spent her entire life.
In the early 1900's, shortly after her mother's death, she was
asked to arrange a special memorial service in the church her
mother had attended. Realizing the universal beauty of the idea,
Miss Jarvis bought her experience to the attention of the church
people in Philadelphia where she lived. On the second Sunday in
May, 1908, the churches of that city observed their first Mother's
Day services. These services were so widely acclaimed that she
quietly but persistently campaigned for nationwide observance.
Through her persuasion, Senator Burkett of Nebraska introduced a
bill into Congress designating the second Sunday in May-the day
on which Mrs. Jarvis was born-as a national Mother's Day. 1924 was
the first Mother's Day.
News: Early newspapers printed a sign at the top of the first page of every
issue indicating the four points of the compass. This implied that
the information printed came from the north, east, west, and south.
Later this sign was simplified until it appeared as "N-E-W-S." So
NOW we have the word news, meaning "the latest information from the
four corners of the globe."
Nylon: As the story goes, the term nylon was given to a product created by
its inventor, who worked on developing it both in New York and
London. By taking the first letters of New York and combining it
with the first three letters of London, one gets the word nylon.
Oscar: The gold statuette, symbolic of the Motion Picture Academy Awards,
was given its name by Mrs. Margaret Herrick in 1931. She was then
executive secretary of the Academy. Studying the figure, she remarked
that it had the square jaw and sharp features of an uncle who
happened to be named Oscar. Bette Davis and other movie stars
referred to the trophy as Oscar and the name stuck.
Pastor: This title, which we use interchangeably with preacher and minister
originally meant shepherd.
Perfume: Literally par fume, meaning "through smoke," and probably extending
back to primitive times when the only perfume the caveman knew was
released by burning woods and gums.
Phi Beta Kappa: This honorary scholastic fraternity was founded December 5,
1776, by fifty men at the College of William and Mary in
Williamsburg, Virginia. The Greek letters phi, beta and kappa are
the initials of the Greek words meaning "Philosophy, the Guide
of Life." Membership in this fraternity results from persons being
elected by vote of college faculty members among senior and junior
college students with the best academic records.
Playing cards: Present-day playing cards were designed in 1393 by Jack
Gringonneur, court painter to Charles VI of France. He founded his
pack on a regular system. A pack consists of fifty-cards. The number
of weeks in a year; there are thirteen cards to a suit, the number
of lunar months. The four suits represent the four social classes of Gringonneur's time. Spades were for the pikemen or soldiery; clubs
were designed as a cloverleaf, the emblem of husbandry; diamonds
represented the diamond-shaped hat of the artisan; and hearts came
from the French word Coeur, an evolution from Chorur, meaning "the
clergy." The first cards used in the United States were brought by
the Spanish to their early settlements.
Pool: Originally a poolroom was a place in which lottery tickets were sold.
Lottery, because of the manner in which winnings were paid off,
was called "pool." Since lottery tickets were sold all day and the
drawings were not held until late in the evening, proprietors of
poolrooms installed billiard tables to occupy their customers
during the long waiting periods. The game of billiards was either
too slow or too difficult for the hangers-on. They devised a game
of their own, first called "pocket billiards" and later "pool."
Radar: The name for this military device comes from the first letters of
the unabbreviated name which describes its function-Radio
Detection and Ranging.
Robot: This term is synonymous with automation. It was popularized in the
1920's when the Czech playwright Karel Capek brought his play,
"R.U.R." to the United States. These initials stand for Rossum's
Universal Robots, a firm manufacturing mechanical men. The word
"robot" stems from the Czech word robotnik, which means "slave,"
which in turn comes from robota, which means "to work."
St. Valentine's Day: The custom of sending declarations of love on
St. Valentines' Day began in medieval France and England. The
popular belief was that birds began to pair February 14, which
made it a proper occasion for sending lovers' tokens. The tokens
took their name from the saint of the day, a third-century priest
named Valentine.
Sandwich: It was during the reign of King George III that what we now know
as a sandwich was named after the Earl of Sandwich. He was supposed
to have been so great a gambler that he could not wait to eat his
meals, but instead took his food in this form so that he would not
lose any time while he continued his play. While originally
sandwiches consisted solely of meat and bread, nowadays they
take on many different forms.
Santa Claus: This name would seem to be a German corruption of St. Nicholas,
a fourth-century bishop who died in the year 352 A.D. His birthday
was long celebrated on December 6 in Europe. Legend has it that on
the evening of that day he made his tour, visiting palace and
cottage alike, the children placed stockings or other receptacles
for the gifts which he was expected to drop down to them through
the chimneys of their homes. The Dutch brought the custom to New
Amsterdam and called him Sinter Klaas, wich in English became
Santa Claus.
Dr. Clement Clarke Moore of New York, in a famous poem entitled
A Visit from St. Nicholas, first published in December,
1823, put the Santa Claus myth in the form we now accept in this
country. It was he who invented the sleigh and the reindeer and
all else that goes with it, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet,
Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen.
Scapegoat: This word comes from ancient times when on Yom Kippur, the
Jewish Day of Atonement, Aaron laid the sins of the people on the
head of a goat and sent it into the wilderness. At the same time
that this was going on, a second goat was sacrificed to the Lord.
Thus it is that the modern scapegoat means "one who is made to bear
the blame for another."
Siamese Twins: The name is derived from a set of twins, Chang and Eng,
born of Chinese parents in Siam in 1811. The term is used to
designate two nearly complete individuals united side by side or
back to back. Chang and Eng were exhibited for many years in
P.T. Barnum's circus, after which they settled in North Carolina,
married English sistes, and had a total of 22 children. They died
within two hours of each other in 1874.
Sophomore: This comes to us from the Greek language. It is a combination
of the word sophos, meaning "wise," and moros, meaning "fool"-the
combination "wise fool" meaning one who knows enough at least to
understand that he does not know everything, which would make
such an attitude the beginning of true wisdom.
S.O.S.: In the opinion of some persons the distress signal used y ships at
sea means "Save Our Ship." But the letters do not stand for words
and have no meaning in themselves. They were adopted at the Radio
Telegraph Conference in 1912 because the combination of dots and
dashes (three dots, three dashes, three dots) was so easy to send
that the most inexperienced radio operator would have no difficulty
with it.
Spoonerism: William Archibald Spooner, dean and warden of New College,
Oxford, gave his name, perhaps unwillingly, to the freak of s
peech in which letters or sounds in one word are transposed to
another nearby word. The only authenticated spoonerism by the
late warden occurred in New College Chapel in 1879 when he
announced the hymn "Conquering Kings" as "Kinkering Congs."
Table Tennis: The first table tennis balls probably were champagne corks.
In the 1890's Mr. James Gibb, a Cambridge (England) engineer,
invented the game in which the corks were knocked from one side
of the table to the other with cigar box lids. A few years later
the game was revolutionized when an English visitor to the United
States noticed babies playing with celluloid balls. On his
suggestion, these balls replaced the cork and rubber ones then
in use. The game was known as ping-pong and stayed that way until
1927. Then it was changed to table tennis because ping-pong was
proprietary name belonging to a firm making equipment for the game.
Tabloid: This word, coined in the nineteenth century, was applied to
many products in condensed and compact form. In the United States
it has been applied to newspapers with pages about half the usual
size.
Tariff: When the Moors were masters of Spain their ships used to lie in
wait for merchant vessels coming through the Straits of Gibraltar
bound for Italy, Greece, and Egypt. The Moors were no fool.
Instead of plundering the vessels they levied a sort of blackmail
with a fixed scale of payment based on the value of the cargo…this
was determined at their port of Tarifa. Thus originated the word
tariff. Some people still think the tariff is a form of piracy
after all these years of government sanction.
Thanksgiving Day: The custom of celebrating a day of thanks in this
country was originated by Governor Bradford of Massachusetts
after the first harvest of the Pilgrims in 1621. President
George Washington proclaimed November 26, 1789 to be a day of
thanksgiving. In 1815, President Madison set aside a day of
thanks to mark the return of peace after the War of 1812. By
1830 the State of New York had adopted a day of thanksgiving as
an annual custom, and other states soon followed. In 1863, at
the urging of Mrs. Sarah J. Hale, editor of Godey's Lady's Book,
President Lincoln issued a proclamation fixing the fourth Thursday
in November as Thanksgiving Day. Later, the official national
Thanksgiving Day became the last Thursday in November. In 1939,
President Roosevelt proclaimed November 23 to be the day of
observance but many states refused to accept this and continued
to use November 30. It was not until 1941 that Congress got
around to fixing a national date and decreed that Thanksgiving
in each year should be the third Thursday in November, which it
now is.
To the Bitter End: This phrase has a nautical origin. A ship's anchor
chain, at the point where it was fastened to a vertical timber
called the bitt, was known as the bitter end. Thus when the chain
has been played out to the bitter end, there's nothing more that
can be done.
Tuxedo: Tuxedo comes from Algonquian Indian p'tauk-seet, "the bear"-an
animal black and tailless.
Uncle Same: This term came into use in the War of 1812 and was born at
Troy, New York. The government inspector there was Uncle Sam
Wilson, and when the war opened Elbert Anderson, the contractor
at New York, bought a large amount of beef, pork, and pickles for
the army. These were inspected by Wilson, and were duly labeled
E.A.-U.S., meaning Albert Anderson, for the United States. The
term U.S. for the United States was then somewhat new, and the
workmen concluded that they referred to Uncle Sam Wilson. After
the discovered their mistake, they kept up the name as a joke.
These same men soon went to the war. There they repeated the
joke. It got into print and went the rounds. From that time on
the term "Uncle Sam" was used facetiously for the United States,
and it now represents the nation.
Undertaker: Long years ago each village had a handy man who earned his
living by "undertaking" odd jobs of any kind. Laying out and
embalming corpses, an undesirable task to most people, usually
fell to his lot. The "handy man" has narrowed his field to
embalming and burying, and prefers the more dignified title of
mortician, but the original term, undertaker, still sticks around.
Wall Street: The center of one of the greatest financial districts in
the world, Wall Street is situated in the lower part of
Manhattan Island, New York City, and extends east from Broadway
to the East River. The street received its name from a stockade,
or wall, which was built in 1653 by Peter Stuyvesant, Dutch
colonial governor, to protect the area south of the wall from
the English and the Indians.
Windfall: Good fortune is often called a windfall. This stems from
medieval England, when commoners had trouble finding wood for
fuel. Royal decree prohibited them from chopping down trees, so
when wind knocked down branches it was a stroke of good luck.
"X" (The Unknown Quantity): The Greeks were such concrete thinkers that
they didn't bother to develop an algebra with abstract
"unknowns." The Egyptians hold the earliest claim to
equation-writing: a manuscript of 1800 B.C. speaks of the
unknown as hau-"heap." The Hindus did better. They used
abbreviated syllables or initials of objects, but they also had
plus, and minus and equal signs. The sixteenth century
Frenchman, Vieta, is credited with first using capital letters
for unknowns. Fifty years after his death, Descartes' Geometrie
appeared which specified that the beginning letters of the alphabet
be used for given quantities, the end letters for unknowns-and so
it still is done today.
FIRST
Newspaper Cartoon, The first newspaper cartoon in America appeared
on May 9, 1754, when Benjamin Franklin's "Join or Die" cartoon was
printed in the Pennsylvania Gazette. It depicted a dissected snake,
each part labeled with the name of a colony.
Woman pharmacist: On March 16, 1883, Susan Hayhurst became the
first woman pharmacist upon her graduation from the Philadelphia
College of Pharmacy with the degree of PH.C.
Source: Jacob M. Braude, Origins and Firsts