Comments on: Online Etymology Dictionary

Online Etymology Dictionary

xmutex — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 14:06:45 -0800

Ever wondered why they use K to record a baseball strike? How about the origin of eavesdrop? What about vamping on a piano? All this and more at the Online Etymology Dictionary.

By: rhapsodie

rhapsodie — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 14:36:12 -0800

Spiff! rhapsodyie.

By: NorthernLite

NorthernLite — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 14:36:12 -0800

Yay, another site to add to my growing list of language references. The site creator sure gives a detailed bio of himself! But hey, I can dig a language geek who loves nature and hates SUVs. Amen brother. Thanks, xmutex.

By: majick

majick — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 14:44:54 -0800

Good stuff. Thank you.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 15:02:26 -0800

[This is f*cking good, if a bit verbose.]

By: ikalliom

ikalliom — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 15:13:19 -0800

As far as I know, a 'piano vamp' is a short rhythmic pattern played many times over in the course of a song, and has little to do with being extempore or not. Very nice resource anyway, thanks.

By: Specklet

Specklet — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 15:19:59 -0800

Thanks for the link! Just yesterday I was wishing that Merriam-Webster had an etymology section.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 15:21:23 -0800

The Online Etymology Dictionary... but worth introducing to a new generation of MeFites. A useful resource, but not (of course) infallible.

By: xmutex

xmutex — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 15:26:56 -0800

God damn it. I was excited about this too. I forgot to change the search drop-down box to "since day one". I apologize. I am currently committing ritual disembowelment.

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 15:36:54 -0800

This is terrific! I'm so glad you posted it xmutex. I missed it the first time around.

By: afx114

afx114 — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 15:41:53 -0800

I cringe when the pitcher has 3 strikeouts and hanging off the side of the bleachers or on the scoreboard is a big fat "KKK"

By: fenriq

fenriq — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 16:05:29 -0800

This is fun, I've always wanted to check cretin and I was right! from Fr. Alpine dialect crestin, "a dwarfed and deformed idiot," from V.L. *christianus "a Christian,". I was, sadly, incorrect on the origins of moron but that's okay. Cretin's a better word anyway. afx114, what about when Randy Johnson's pitching? Then its like a white supremacist with a really, really bad stutter. And that kind of makes me laugh.

By: caddis

caddis — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 16:23:28 -0800

Cool!

By: quonsar

quonsar — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 17:02:06 -0800

a while back i disagreed with someone claimed that what ashlee simpson did before fleeing the stage on SNL was vamping. to that someone: a big nelson muntz HA HA.

By: Rashomon

Rashomon — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 17:17:02 -0800

callipygian "of, pertaining to, or having beautiful buttocks," 1800, from Gk. kallipygos, name of a statue of Aphrodite, from kalli-, combining form of kallos "beauty" + pyge "rump, buttocks." Sir Thomas Browne (1646) refers to "Callipygæ and women largely composed behinde." [Sorry if this isn't PC but I love the sound of the word and find the epitomology of it interesting.]

By: mexican

mexican — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 17:20:00 -0800

The explanation for vamp is a little too narrow. It's primary meaning in a performance context is "to fill space", which can mean different things in different situations. You can vamp by extemporizing on a piano while the singer talks about what they ate for breakfast, by playing a short rhythmic pattern between sections in a latin-jazz tune (this is more used as a noun though), by improvising some dialogue in a play when a technical queue is late, or by dancing a jig after getting busted for lip syncing on live TV.

By: Cryptical Envelopment

Cryptical Envelopment — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 17:25:53 -0800

The etymology of "vamp" is interesting, but the definition as written is wrong. To vamp, in a musical sense, is not to improvise (extemporize) but rather to play a short set of chord changes repeatedly. On preview: what mexican said.

By: interrobang

interrobang — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 21:05:26 -0800

Great post, fascinating and fun. Thanks.

By: ism

ism — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 23:14:26 -0800

great link. i'm glad they put right in the first sentence "etymologies are not definitions." please to keep in mind!