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Bookmark and Share Words From Nowhere: Common Words, But Where Did They Come From?

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Even such common words as blizzard, flare, freak, pad, and puzzle are listed in dictionaries as being of “unknown origin.” It is not even that their roots have been lost with the passage of time: no one can explain the appearance of certain contemporary words, such as hijack, which was first recorded in the 1920’s…The investigation of the source of such words has led to many different explanations, some more farfetched than others. Here are some examples…

Is a butterfly so named because it “flutters by”? Does the name perhaps come from the butter-yellow color of the wings of some common butterflies? No one knows. But perhaps the most appealing explanation points to an ancient belief that butterflies stole milk and butter. In a number of folktales, butterflies are witches in disguise.

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Published 2 years 37 weeks ago – Made popular 2 years 37 weeks ago
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