WOW! Warped Origins of Words!

Or WWO! Wacky Word Origins! And, as you know, when anything is self-proclaimed to be wacky, you can almost guarantee that hijinks or shenanigans will certainly ensue.

Here's how this works: You give me a word; and I tell you the origin of that word. (Overly Dramatic Voice): "Who the words are; and how they came to be!"

Kind of like Secret Origins of Superheroes, but with less radioactivity. And less spandex and capes.

For example here's WOW (or WWO) word origin for the word love:

Love: The word for love comes from an old Indo-European word lufoolyicious which described a stomach ailment diagnosed centuries later as trichinosis. While relaxing in what would later become known as the English countryside, Romulus and Jewella shared a picnic meal. Unfortunately, Romulus’ pork sandwich was undercooked; and he began to suffer abdominal pangs. He tried to tell Jewella that he thought that he had come down with lufoolyicious, but all could manage to say before doubling over was: “Jewella, I -- I -- I lufoo!” Although not suffering from the same pork-induced trauma, Jewella experienced the butterflies of romantic attraction and merely assumed that Romulus who was bent over in agony clutching his stomach felt that way for her as well. After miraculously surviving being leeched back to health, Romulus realized he had feelings for Jewella as well. And as news spread of their whirlwind romance, the phrase “I lufoo!” via mispronunciations by the then toothless masses became “I love you.” And love became the word we now know and adore today. So, before you elope with your special someone, ask yourself “Am I really in love; or have I been eating undercooked pork?” And don’t worry, sometimes it’s both.

With only a few changes to the story, Shakespeare achieved great fame recounting this tempestuous tale in his highly-acclaimed play “Romeo and Juliet”.

Love also became known as a zero in tennis because the losing player fared so poorly that onlookers often thought that he must have trichinosis.

It’s also a type of cheese.

Please post the word or phrase for which you long to know its origin in a comment below.

Blessings & Joy,

Dean Burkey