7 on Words ...

Hello All,
7 questions on word origins to exercise the etymological part of your brain :)

Answers in a week. Enjoy :)

1. The fact that this popular word is Arabic in descent is easily noticeable by the occurrence of an Arabic definite article in the word (equivalent of ‘the’ in English). The word itself derives from the Arabic word for a fine black powder, made from antimony, and used by women to darken their eyelids (‘Kajal’ in India). The Arabic word is also responsible for its English counterpart, called Kohl. Which word?

2. In early times, it was custom for the English Chancellor of the Exchequer to bring his papers to the House of Commons in a leather bag or portfolio. He placed the bag on the table and then at the opportune moment, he opened the bag to display his papers and initiate a process. The process itself took its name from the chancellor’s act of ‘opening the bag’. What process/word?

3. This English word owes its origins to a sinner in Greek Myth. This sinner was condemned to a life of eternal frustration. For his sins, he was made to stand in a pool of water up to his chin. But each time, he leaned over to drink, the water receded. He was standing amidst trees laden with ripe, delicious fruit. But again, each time he reached for the fruits, the winds blew the branches away from him. Forever, he remained deprived in a land of plenty. His name symbolized his unfortunate life and is now part of the English language, the word mostly used in its adjective & verb variants. Who or what word?

4. Most etymologists agree that this word is Dutch in origin. The most popular version suggests that the word is a bastardized version of ‘John Kaas’ or ‘John Cheese’, which can be thought of as a parallel for John Bull or Uncle Sam, and was used for Dutch settled in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. This nickname came to the New World when the English applied it contemptuously to Dutch pirates. The New York Dutch applied the term with the same contempt to the residents of Connecticut. Which word?

5. This word, perhaps the only one to be voted into the English language, was adopted in 1910 by the ‘American Association for the study of the feeble-minded’. Its technical definition was ‘an adult with a mental age between 8 to 12’. The word was part of a classification system pioneered by Dr. Henry Goddard. The classification system was subsequently disbanded and with the word gaining popularity as an insult, the technical definition was also dropped. What word am I referring to?

6. German Miners, when they first discovered this metal, were tricked by its bright silver and pink luster, and thought they were in contact with the underground spirits/creatures of German folklore. They named the metal after them. The metal has its primary uses, as an alloy in high speed steels, as magnets and as pigmenting substances. And the German word that this metal derives its name from is also responsible for the English word ‘Goblins’ (Do not reverse derive – could be misleading). Name the metal or the German root.

7. What does S.O.S stand for? ‘Save our ship’? ‘Save our Souls’? Or maybe ‘Sink or Swim’? If your answer is any of these, you are wrong. And you are not alone :) For instance, in 1912, in an enquiry into the sinking of the Titanic, the British Attorney General, during his reasoning (?) session, explained CQD, the older signal, was used instead of SOS, which he then explained, meant ‘Save Our Souls’. SOS was selected just 6 years earlier, in 1906, at the Radio Telegraph Conference. Why was it selected and what does SOS stand for?