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[Fuzz]

 :D
Etymology fascinates me. I've recently become interested in those words which aren't made up of Latin/Greek/French/what have you words, but are really just contractions adapted into the common speech. These words aren't like "don't" or similar words, as there is no apostrophe, it is simply a combination of several English words. Over time their meanings have come to differ from the meaning of the original phrase (in some cases) but they are still clearly identifiable as a contraction of 2-3 English words. Some I can think of off the top of my head are albeit (although be it), awful (full of awe), and goodbye (God be with you). I'd be interested if anyone else is interested in/knows some of these.

[Zest]

I had no idea that was what goodbye meant. My mind has been blown.

I think it's funny that awful's meaning has completely reversed itself; it used to mean a terribly good thing, and was meant to show that you were "full of awe". Somewhere along the line it came to mean that something was just plain terrible.

[Seth]

alright = all + right

Theo, that's not right about awful according to this guy: http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/awful-awesome/

?

[ஒழுக்கின்மை]

A lot of words have origins that are surprising. Disaster means under an unfortunate star (dis + aster). Bigot is someone who says "by god" a lot (bi + got).

[Inanimate]

Awe isn't necessarily a good thing.

Bless comes from Bles, for blood. It used to mean to cover in sacrificial blood.

[pgil]

alright = all + right

I was always taught that "alright" is not a real word. It's just "all right"

[John Nesky]

Maybe not what you're looking for, but I'm horrified at the persistent usage of archaic numerical terms in music theory. "Octave" is not eight-of-something, and "semitone" is not half-of-something. An "octave" is just twelve "semitones", seven of which make a "major scale", which is not a scale.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை]

alright = all + right

I was always taught that "alright" is not a real word. It's just "all right"

It isn't, but you see it used in slang. Same thing with "alot", which is particularly common on the GMC forums.

[Inanimate]

In other words, on GMC, alot is used alot.

Decimated means destroying one tenth of something.

[Zest]

alright = all + right

Theo, that's not right about awful according to this guy:

Well, shoot. I guess I learned something extra today.

[Jack Gleeson]

I have a book on etymology for people who ENJOY reading. The OED is also class for a giggle

[Grif]

Peruse is used entirely backwards from its original meaning, in the same way awful is.

Means to lightly scan, not read in detail, as even English teachers will think.

Chauvinist is a French word describing a feeling of intense nationalism, and has nothing to do with sexism.

[William Laub]

Maybe not what you're looking for, but I'm horrified at the persistent usage of archaic numerical terms in music theory. "Octave" is not eight-of-something, and "semitone" is not half-of-something. An "octave" is just twelve "semitones", seven of which make a "major scale", which is not a scale.

A semitone is the same thing as a half step, which is half of a whole step. A scale spanning one octave contains 8 notes (eg. C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C). I learned that the word "scale" comes from the Italian word for ladder (scala).

I'm willing to overlook a lot of linguistic brutality, but the next time someone goes after my beloved musical terms there will be blood.

[Glaiel-Gamer]

Portmanteau is a portmanteau of the french words porter and manteau

[Inanimate]

I've only ever heard peruse as to lightly scan, never the second half. Weird.

[Jack Gleeson]

Chauvinist is a French word describing a feeling of intense nationalism, and has nothing to do with sexism.

Men are from Austria, women are from France?

[Xion]

I've only ever heard peruse as to lightly scan, never the second half. Weird.

yeah I've never known it to mean read in depth. Just to like, browse casually and stuff.

[ChevyRay]

I've only ever heard peruse as to lightly scan, never the second half. Weird.

yeah I've never known it to mean read in depth. Just to like, browse casually and stuff.

Same here.

This is a great topic!

Parasol

"parere" + "sol" essentially means to parry the sun.

[Corpus]

albeit (although be it)

I'm pretty sure it's a contraction of "al be it," or "all be it" in modern English, in the same way that "although" is a contraction of "all though."

[Fuzz]

albeit (although be it)

I'm pretty sure it's a contraction of "al be it," or "all be it" in modern English, in the same way that "although" is a contraction of "all though."

Is it? It made more sense to me that it would be although be it, but you're probably right. I didn't look any of those up or anything.