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Hidden Farts: Silent But Deadly

Listen to this article on my podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/wordmall/2676266/

The word fart, considered by many folks to be vulgar, is here to stay, as is the reality behind it. The word is classified as onomatopoeia, which means the sound of the word reflects what it is defining.

    Every language that I know has a word for it. They all tend to imitate what they hear as the sound, as sort of a fffft. I know that some people consider etymology the second most dismal science, but every once in a while, a fascinating revelation bursts forth.

    This happened to me recently as I looked up a word. The word was the seemingly innocent word partridge. Now partridges are members of the pheasant family.

    They eat insects, berries, seeds. They nest on the ground. They weigh less than a pound, but they can run very quickly, which saves them from many a predator.

But then came the shocker. The name partridge derived from a Greek verb, which from time immemorial has meant to fart. It's not so much this particular bird is prone to flatulence.

    It's just that the noise that it makes as it flies away reminded some people as a fart. That has“to be some takeoff.

    Well, intrigued, I decided to do a wild card search on etymologies containing break wind, fart, flatulence. That's when a second surprise erupted. The German district of Westphalia was known for its pumpernickel, a coarse black bread not always fully appreciated.

    In fact, in early modern German, pumper meant fart. As the Oxford English Dictionary delicately puts it, this type of bread was probably so called either on account of its being difficult to digest and causing flatulence, or in a more general allusion to its hardness and poor quality. Hidden farts also lurk in the word feisty, aggressive, and touchy.

    Like O'Purdone, a fungus puffball translated as wolf's fart. Onopurdone, a genus of thistles translated as donkey fart. Petticoel, a louse translated as small fart.

And poop, from a German verb, meaning to fart. Now I can't wait to have a partridge sandwich on pumpernickel. Pass the beano, please.

Here is the link to the January 23, 2024 airing on WTCM AM 580 of the Words to the Wise show with Ron Jolly and Mike Sheehan: https://on.soundcloud.com/7A2Yr0qKZfdyTlXj7Q

Naked as a Jay Bird

Q. What is the origin of the phrase "naked as a jay bird?"

A. You pose an interesting question, particularly because most experts don't have a secure answer. The real puzzle, of course, is that far from being naked, the bluejay is covered with brilliant blue and white and black feathers--a veritable riot of clothing.

Evan Morris (The Word Detective) and Christine Ammer (Cool Cats, Top Dogs, and Other Beastly Expressions) are two wordsmiths who at least tried to formulate an answer. Their speculations:

(1) In 19th century America, jay was slang for a hick, a simpleton, a gullible person. In that case, naked as a jay would refer to a completely vulnerable person, not to a bird. And we have another vestige of that meaning: to jaywalk. This referred to country bumpkins wandering around gawking at tall buildings and paying no attention to traffic signals.

(2) All perching birds, including jays, are born with hardly any down at all, making them quite helpless.

So "naked" turns out to be the easy part, expressing vulnerability. "Jay" is the problem. Human or bird? Take your pick. No one seems to know.

Word Parts Dictionary, 3rd edition

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Fell a Tree or Fall a Tree?

Norman wrote, “Can you provide some clarity on the use of 'fall' and 'fell' with regards to cutting down a tree?  Many folks say, I'm going to fell a tree.  On the other hand, some say, I'm going to fall a tree.  Thanks for any insight that you can provide me.”

The proper form is "fell a tree." Fall is not supposed to take an object. Its principal parts are fall. fell, fallen.

• A tree fell in the forest.
• The tree has fallen.
• The regime fell to the revolutionaries.

The principal parts of fell (a separate verb) are fell, felled, and felling. That verb does take an object, and it has two meanings:

• (1) To cause to fall by striking; to cut or knock down: to fell a tree / to fell an opponent in boxing. 
• (2) To kill: President Kennedy was felled by an assassin's bullet.
  
  

It wasn’t part of Nortman’s question, but fell as an adjective means fierce, deadly, and ruthless. When a bird of prey suddenly drops down on its prey and snatches it up, it kills in one fell swoop.

Word Parts Dictionary, 3rd edition

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Rundown/Run-Down/Run down

 

 

 

Paul/LeRoy, Michigan:  Can you explain the many meanings of the word rundown?  

 

 An interesting phrasal verb and/or adjective. It may signify collision, dilapidation, pursuit, summarization, reduction, timing, health, etc. And as this entry's title indicates, it may be spelled as a single word, a hyphenated word, or as two words. Always use a dictionary to see which is preferred for your context.

       

Here's what the Oxford English Dictionary has to offer:

 

·     √ A gradual and sustained reduction in the size or scope of an organization, enterprise, or activity.  1890 (The attempt to run down gasoline-powered cars is not going smoothly)

 

·     √  Procure:  (Can you run down some estimates for me?)

 

·    √  An attempt by two or more fielders to tag out a base runner who is trapped between two bases by throwing the ball from one to another.   1908

 

·     √ U.S. Horse Racing slang. A list of entries and current betting odds.  1931

 

·     √ A summary or brief account of pertinent facts, esp. one given verbally; a short description; a listing of items of information. 1943

 

·     √ Caribbean. A dish consisting of a boiled coconut sauce containing fish, chicken, vegetables, and/or other ingredients.  1943

 

·     √ To knock down  (run down by a horse or vehicle)  1686

 

·     √ To hunt or track 1650  (Javert did not rest until he had run down the suspect)

 

·     √ To disparage, denigrate, vilify   1671  (They will run down my reputation because they want me to lose my job)

 

·     √ Of a clock, clockwork mechanism, etc.: to lose its motive power, become unwound; to cease to go. 1665  (I was late for work because my alarm clock ran down overnight)

 

·     √Of a timer: to count down to zero 1899 (The bomb was rigged to explode when the timer ran down)

 

·     √ To slow play, esp. near the end of a game or match by a team that is in the lead. 1954   (They began to run down the clock when only one minute remained in the basketball game)

 

·     √ To decrease, diminish  1792 (Be careful not to let your blood sugar levels run down too far)

 

·     √ To become feeble, tired, weak,  1733  (If you’re feeling rundown, you should rest)

 

·     √ To deteriorate; to fall into disuse or decay; (of a building, etc.) to become dilapidated. 1843 (The building was so run down that they planned to demolish it)

 

·     √ To cause or allow (a battery, machine, etc.) to lose power or reduce output; to drain  1840 (If your battery runs down, you will have to find a jump-start)

 

                     Word Parts Dictionary, 3rd Edition

 

  

 

AN _OUNCE OF PREVUNCIATION

                                           [The Annunciation by Fra Angelico, 1450]

A caller asked about the difference between pronunciation and enunciation. Pronunciation refers to the proper utterance of a word. This involves the placement of stress, or accent, in multisyllabic words, and the value given to the consonants and vowels. Misplace the accent, or give the wrong value to a vowel or consonant, and you have mispronounced the word.

 

Enunciation refers to the clarity of the speaker. Thus, his or her pronunciation might be perfect, but if he or she mumbles or slurs, I may not understand what is being said.

 

No one asked, but notice that the verb form of these words contains the letter -o-, which is dropped in the noun form:

 

Announce/annunciation     1429/1389

Denounce/denunciation     1384/1548

Enounce /enunciation         1805/1551    

Pronounce/pronunciation  1384/1439

Renounce/renunciation      1393/1399

 

The oddball in that list is enounce. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (the source of all the first usage dates) it was spelled enunciate in 1623.

 

The source for all of them is the Latin nuntiare, but when certain forms came through French, an -o- was added.

Word Parts Dictionary, 3rd edition

Word Parts Dictionary, Kindle edition

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