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Words, Words, Words
Would you believe that "on the nose" comes from radio? When broadcasting began, directors had to communicate with people on the air without making noise, so they developed hand signals. Time is always a key element in live broadcasts. The person at the mike needed to know if the program was on schedule. If things were "just right," the director signaled with a finger to the side of his or her nose.
"Evian" spelled backwards is naive.
Colgate faced a big obstacle marketing toothpaste in Spanish speaking countries. Colgate translates into the command "go hang yourself."
Montgomery Ward was the first to advertise "Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back" in 1874 — two years after Aaron Montgomery Ward, launched his first mail-order catalog.
OK is the most successful of all Americanisms. It has invaded hundreds of other languages and been adopted by them as a word. Mencken claims that US troops deployed overseas during WWII found it already in use by Bedouins in the Sahara to the Japanese in the Pacific. It was also the fourth word spoken on the surface of the moon. It stands for oll korrect, a misspelling of all correct.
When Coca-Cola began to be sold in China, they used characters that would sound like "Coca-Cola" when spoken. Unfortunately, what they turned out to mean was "Bite the wax tadpole".
"Kemo Sabe" reportedly means "soggy shrub" in Navajo.
White elephants were rare even in Siam (the modern Thailand). If you found one the emperor automatically owned it and you couldn't harm it. When the emperor wanted to punish someone, he gave him or her a white elephant as a "gift." They couldn't ride it or work it, but they still had to take care of it and clean up after it. And you know what elephants do besides eat. So the gift was useless. Hence the expression.
"To whinge" is Australian slang for "to complain constantly."
"Turnip" used to be a U.S. slang expression for a pocket watch.
"Toboggan" is derived from the Algonquin language and loosely meant "instrument with which to drag a cord."
"Yakka" means "hard work" in Australian slang.
Graffito is the little-used singular of the much used plural word graffiti.
A "clue" originally meant a ball of thread. This is why one is said to "unravel" the clues of a mystery.
The ball on top of a flagpole is called the truck.
The stress in Hungarian words always falls on the first syllable.
The word for "dog" in the Australian aboriginal language Mbabaran happens to be "dog."
A "pogonip" is a heavy winter fog containing ice crystals.
The loop on a belt that holds the loose end is called a "keeper".
Las Vegas means "the meadows" in Spanish. Ironically, the city in the desert was once abundant in water and vegetation.
The word "mullet" describes a hairstyle worn, particularly in the southern USA, which is characterized by short hair on the top and sides, with very long hair in the back.
"Quisling" is the only word in the English language to start with "quis."
In ancient Egypt, the apricot was called the "egg of the sun."
The equivalent of calling someone a jerk in English is calling them a pickle in French.
The words “video recording” and “videotape” were first used in the early 1950s. At the time, only television professionals used them.
The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. ~Mark Twain
