سارة
02-17-2011, 07:47 PM
1- Ok : only survivor of a slang fad in Boston and New York c.1838-9 for abbreviations of common phrases with deliberate, jocular misspellings (cf. K.G. for "no go," as if spelled "know go"); in this case, "oll korrect." Further popularized by use as an election slogan by the O.K. Club, New York boosters of Democratic president Martin Van Buren's 1840 re-election bid, in allusion to his nickname Old Kinderhook, from his birth in the N.Y. village of Kinderhook. Van Buren lost, the word stuck, in part because it filled a need for a quick way to write an approval on a ********, bill, etc. The noun is first attested 1841; the verb 1888. Spelled out as okeh, 1919, by Woodrow Wilson, on assumption that it represented Choctaw okeh "it is so" (a theory which lacks historical ********ation); this was ousted quickly by okay after the appearance of that form in 1929. Okey-doke is student slang first attested 1932. Greek immigrants to America who returned home early 20c. having picked up U.S. speech mannerisms were known in Greece as okay-boys, among other things.
2- Yahoo : "a brute in human form," 1726, from the race of brutish human creatures in Swift's "Gulliver's Travels
- Or probably, it is an abbreviation of Yet Another Hirarical Organized Oracle
3- Good-bye : from godbwye (1573), itself a contraction of God be with ye, infl. by good day, good evening, etc.
4- Google : The name "Google" originated from a misspelling of the word "googol",[31][32] which refers to 10100, the number represented by a 1 followed by one hundred zeros. Having found its way increasingly into everyday language, the verb "google" was added to the Merriam ***ster Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary in 2006, meaning "to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet."
5- Hi: greeting, 1862, Amer.Eng. (first recorded reference is to speech of a Kansas Indian), originally to attract attention, probably a variant of M.E. hy, hey (c.1475) also an exclamation to call attention. Extended form hiya attested from 1940.
6- News : 1382 plural of new (n.) "new thing," from new (adj.), q.v.; after Fr. nouvelles, used in Bible translations to render M.L. nova (neut. pl.) "news," lit. "new things." Sometimes still regarded as plural, 17c.-19c. Meaning "tidings" is 1423; newspaper is first attested 1670, though the thing itself is much older. Newsreel was first recorded 1916; newscast is from 1930. Newsletter is attested from 1674, but fell from use until it was revived 20c. Newsworthy first attested 1932. The News in the Virginia city Newport News is said to derive from the name of one of its founders, William Newce.
7- I : The reason for writing I is ... the orthographic habit in the middle ages of using a 'long i' (that is, j or I) whenever the letter was isolated or formed the last letter of a group; the numeral 'one' was written j or I (and three iij, etc.), just as much as the pronoun." [Otto Jespersen, "Growth and Structure of the English Language," p.233]
2- Yahoo : "a brute in human form," 1726, from the race of brutish human creatures in Swift's "Gulliver's Travels
- Or probably, it is an abbreviation of Yet Another Hirarical Organized Oracle
3- Good-bye : from godbwye (1573), itself a contraction of God be with ye, infl. by good day, good evening, etc.
4- Google : The name "Google" originated from a misspelling of the word "googol",[31][32] which refers to 10100, the number represented by a 1 followed by one hundred zeros. Having found its way increasingly into everyday language, the verb "google" was added to the Merriam ***ster Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary in 2006, meaning "to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet."
5- Hi: greeting, 1862, Amer.Eng. (first recorded reference is to speech of a Kansas Indian), originally to attract attention, probably a variant of M.E. hy, hey (c.1475) also an exclamation to call attention. Extended form hiya attested from 1940.
6- News : 1382 plural of new (n.) "new thing," from new (adj.), q.v.; after Fr. nouvelles, used in Bible translations to render M.L. nova (neut. pl.) "news," lit. "new things." Sometimes still regarded as plural, 17c.-19c. Meaning "tidings" is 1423; newspaper is first attested 1670, though the thing itself is much older. Newsreel was first recorded 1916; newscast is from 1930. Newsletter is attested from 1674, but fell from use until it was revived 20c. Newsworthy first attested 1932. The News in the Virginia city Newport News is said to derive from the name of one of its founders, William Newce.
7- I : The reason for writing I is ... the orthographic habit in the middle ages of using a 'long i' (that is, j or I) whenever the letter was isolated or formed the last letter of a group; the numeral 'one' was written j or I (and three iij, etc.), just as much as the pronoun." [Otto Jespersen, "Growth and Structure of the English Language," p.233]