Etymologies

Etymology denotes the root or origin of a word, as well as the branch of linguistic study dealing with the subject. The root of etymology itself is in Greek étumos , meaning “true,” but research shows that etymologies are often far more complex than simple dictionary entries indicate. Thus The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (1966 edition) traces the etymology of the verb bear back through Old English to Indo-European *bher -, but a note explains that the asterisk “indicates a hypothetical etymological form.” Etymologies are the ancestors of words, not their living descendants, existing in a different time frame and usually with different meanings.

Furthermore, there are often rival claimants for the status of the ultimate root of a word, and a problem of how far back in time to go. The roots of words are fascinating to anyone interested in language, and can be very illuminating. For instance, the root meaning of Latin vagina is “sheath” or “scabbard,” which would imply that the male member is a sword or weapon (which was indeed one meaning of Anglo-Saxon wæpon ), but the meaning of Latin penis is “tail.” There is little doubt that these etymologies throw up metaphors of violence associated with the sexual act.

The cases of swearing and foul language are interesting because a number of special features and dynamics are at work. First, the etymologies of several of the major terms, notably those of the “four-letter” words, remain problematic and unsolved, probably because of the taboo nature of the words. Second, public curiosity in the origin of such terms has always been highly charged: ordinary people, normally uninterested in the origins of common words like table or tree , will be almost insatiably curious about the etymologies of fuck and cunt . Third, various half-truths or popular misinterpretations come into play. One such mistaken notion is that the most egregious of the taboo terms are Anglo-Saxon in origin: this is a half-truth at best. Another is the process known as folk etymology, meaning the plausible but inaccurate explanation of the origin of a term, often with the aid of a tall story or amusing anecdote. These three features are clearly related, since public curiosity is frustrated by the simple academic category of “origin unknown” and, assuming that all words have detectable origins, shows a collective preference to make one up, or believe a fictitious one, rather than accept a vacuum.