Good night, sleep tight

So the wife and I visited historic Milton, WI the other day. There's an inn there that is the only documented Underground Railroad site in Wisconsin. As our adolescent tour guide was leading us through the inn, she attempted to demonstrate the sleeping conditions in the mid-ninteenth century: "As you see, the base is ropes; the bottom mattress is straw; then a feather mattress. That's the origin of the saying 'Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite.'"

Huh? you say--isn't there a part missing in that origin story? Like the part where the bed bugs are introduced? My thoughts exactly. There is clearly a gap in the guide's script. So I put the question to you, askers of Chaka: what is the background of the saying? Did it originate in the U.S. or England? What's the earliest recorded use? Get to work!

I opine that they're the same

We've generated a few questions for you, in part because rumor has it that you're out of school (and that's not fair for those of us still in school), but the list is two shorter than it originally was, due to my lapse in memory:

1. Why do people not use the word opine? We always opt for the passive sentence structure when opine is such a cool word!

2. What's the difference between a motor and an engine. Most often motors are reserved for electric sources of power, but the Ford Tri-motor is an 1929 airplane. When did the word meanings begin to deviate?

3. Are Aggravation and Sorry! essentially the same game? And why is the newer version creating a generation of liars. If you're truly sorry, you should avoid the action for which you will later have to apologize. The majority of the time, such aggressive and cold-hearted actions are avoidable.

4. What's the difference between a tree and a really big bush? A mulberry bush I've been picking is really quite large and tree-like.

Thanks for doing our work for us! We anticipate the fruits of your wisdom and research!

I ride bike!

Why do iron-rangers, and possibly others, use the phrases "ride bike" and "drive truck"? What happened to the definite or indefinite articles?

I don't understand!

Why is "understand" a word for comprehending something? Is there an "overstand?"

Why does standing under something means you know what I'm saying?

Now "nerd" is an interesting word

Nerds have of course been around for a long time. At least as long as people have read Tolkien and wanted to name their first born Boromir. But the word itself is fairly recent. Anatoly Liberman, in his course on the History of English Words, argued that its appearance coincided with the rise of computers.

OED's first citation of the word attests to its use in Detroit in 1951 (reported by Newsweek). As for etymology, it can only give several options that it judges to be unlikely. A curious world demands better. We could engage in thorough research of popular media and private communications from mid-century Detroit. Or we could make up some folk etymologies on the spot. Any takers?

Attercop

As I was researching my refutation of some dastardly folk etymologies (see post blow) I came accross one of the obsolete meanings of the noun "cop." One of the entries for "cop" in OED is devoted to spiders--a related word that is still used is "cobweb." The etymology shows that the Old English word for spider was "attercop."

Now, does that word ring any bells? A prize to the one who answers correctly...

Hint: they hate it when you call them that.

Since no one's asked a real question in a long time

I thought I'd share some thoughts about our common enemy at askchaka.com: Folk Etymologies

Folk etymologies are the urban legends of linguistics; they are beliefs about the histories of certain words that arise and spread spontaneously. They are intuitive, not researched, and are wonderful examples of human creativity and our search for meaning.

On the other hand, folk etymologies are weeds in the garden of research--they're not what you're trying to cultivate, but they keep popping up. They deceive people into believing that they have insight into the "true" meaning of a word and short circuit real learning (not that knowing even the correct etymology of a word necessarily gives any insight into its meaning--but that's a topic for another day).

Fortunately, these weeds are fairly easy to spot. For instance, if anyone tries to tell you that a certain word is really an acronym, feel free to punch them in the face (unless it's scuba, laser, radar, fubar, or snafu, of course). Acronyms make great word stories because you don't need to know anything about the history of the language to create them. Just string the letters together and presto! The fact of the matter is that people haven't been coining new words from acronyms for very long. You'll notice that the examples above are all technical or military in their origin. If the word is older than the 20th century, don't bet on an acronym.

Ultimately, you can check any etymology you hear against a thoroughly researched dictionary like the Oxford English Dictionary or the New Century Dictionary. Of course, they won't always be right, but if you want perfection, you'll have to wait until Anatoly Liberman finishes his Encyclopedic Dictionary of English Etymology.

When do I pick up my cake?

and where?

anyone anyone, any takers ?

does anyone wanna help me anti-wall paper and paint this weekend /? ? ? huh ? - huh , i know it sounds exciting !

pirates ?

How come pirates never seem to die ?

Last one...for now at least

What are you (open to anyone, but mainly targetted at the Chakas) doing the weekend of July 15th and 16th? It just so happens to be the birthday of the coolest guy around, and the coolest gal around will be in the Milwaukee area with a guaranteed scrumptious cake in hand for some celebration. Would you two like to travel north to partake?

Rules of Usage

Though I once thought I vaguely understood the proper usage of the now-common phrase "ownzed," the most recent examples have led to some confusion. When, and why, does one use such a phrase, and what does it mean?

Ish!

When this three letter combo is not being used as a multi-purpose exclamation of disgust, when are you actually allowed to use it as a suffix to create an adjective? For example, childish and ticklish are legal, but warmish and reddish just sound wrong. Also, why is it used in the root of some words, such as radish, relish, ravish, outlandish, gibberish, etc.?