The Fascinating Origins of Common Words You Use Every Day

1 | Walrus

This word is actually a metathesis—or re-ordering—of the Old Norse word hrossvalr ("horse whale"), as was discovered by none other than J. R. R. Tolkien. Yes, the man who gifted us The Lord of the Rings is also the man who, in the late 1910s, worked on the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and concluded that the word "walrus" came to be after another Germanic language accidentally confused the actual Old Norse word for walrus (rosmhvalr) with the word for "horse whale." And for some widely used terms that began in the disco decade, check out 25 Common Words That Didn't Exist Until the 1970s.

2 | Tragedy

The word "tragedy" comes from the Greek word tragodia, which literally translates to "goat song." Many theories have been offered up to explain this strange origin, one such being that because goats would often be sacrificed to the Gods at the end of Athenian play competitions, the sound of their cries became associated with Greek tragedies.

3 | Mortgage

New homeowners staring down hefty mortgages will empathize with the origin of the term. It comes from the Old French words mort and gage, which translate in English to mean "death pledge." According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the mortgage got such a depressing name from the fact that "the deal dies either when the debt is paid or when payment fails."

4 | Bonkers

What makes this word's origin so, well, bonkers is that it's based entirely upon speculation. The word first began popping up in Britain in the 1940s as a more mellow synonym for "mad," but our best guess of where the adjective came from is perhaps from Eric Partridge's A Dictionary of Forces' Slang, in which he writes that it is "perhaps from bonk, a blow or punch on the bonce or head." And for the things you say that show your age, check out 50 Outdated Words That Instantly Age You.

5 | Clue

The modern version of the word "clue" actually derives from its Middle English ancestor. Spelled "clew," this old variation referred to "a ball of thread or yarn," and it became associated with the definition we know today thanks to Greek mythology. If you're familiar with the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, then you'll recall that Theseus uses a ball of thread to trace his steps through the maze as he searches for the Minotaur in the Labyrinth. Once he slays the Minotaur, he uses his thread—a "guide to the solution of a mystery"—to find his way out.

6 | Lukewarm

The "luke" in "lukewarm" is believed to be a derivative of the Middle English word lew and Old English word hleow, both of which mean "tepid." So yes, technically speaking, lukewarm just means "warm warm."

7 | Muscle

In Latin, the word for muscle translates to "little mouse." Back when muscles were named, people believed that the movement of tendons looked like mice running underneath the skin. And for more fun facts about words and slang terms delivered to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.

8 | Geek

The people whom we consider geeks today are certainly not the same people who would have been labeled geeks in the early 1900s. Back then, the word was used to describe not socially awkward, tech-savvy individuals, but rather circus sideshow performers who bit the heads off of small living creatures. It was only in the 1980s that the word began to take on its current meaning, and by the 21st century it nearly lost its negative connotation altogether.

9 | Boycott

Though it looks like a compound word, the term "boycott" is actually eponymous, named after 19th century land agent Captain Charles C. Boycott. During the Irish Land War in the 1880s, Boycott famously feuded with the Irish Land League and their supporters, all of whom were fighting for tenant farmers' rights. The papers turned the landlord's last name into an adjective, and its use quickly spread to other countries and, eventually, other languages.

10 | Eavesdrop

Before there was the eavesdropper, there was the eavesdrop, or "the ground on to which water drips from the eaves." This now obsolete definition was used before there were gutters on roofs, back when water would just fall onto the ground so as not to damage the house.

An eavesdropper became known as such because back when there were eaves, people would hang from them in order to listen in on other people's conversations. This new definition took hold as early as the 1500s, as King Henry VIII had wooden figures built into his eaves in order to discourage such gossip and drama. And to learn more about words that aren't necessarily in the dictionary, check out The Amazing Origins of Everyday Slang Terms You Use Constantly.

11 | Deadline

Nearly all professionals live and breathe by deadlines, at least metaphorically speaking. But during the Civil War, a deadline was literally life or death—not because people took their assignments more seriously back then, but because during this time, a deadline referred to the line drawn around a prison that a prisoner could not pass without getting shot. Many decades after the Civil War, American newsrooms began to use the word "deadline" in its current sense, and the original definition was all but eliminated from use (thankfully).

12 | Loophole

In the 1300s, archers protecting a castle would use loopholes to shield themselves from crossfire. No, these archers didn't find ambiguity in the rules to cause a cease-fire and save their lives; rather, their loopholes were quite literally small slits in the wall through which they could shoot their arrows while simultaneously being protected. And if you love historical trivia, don't miss the 30 Crazy Facts That Will Change Your View of History.

13 | Robot

The word "robot" is less than 100 years old. In 1920, Czech playwright Karel Capek coined the term as part of his play, R.U.R., or Rossum's Universal Robots. Capek's word comes from the old Church Slavonic word robota, meaning "servitude," and he uses it in his play to describe mechanical workers who "lack nothing but a soul" and who take on the tasks that humans loathe. And for how robots are intertwined with your everyday life, learn the 20 Types of Artificial Intelligence You Use Every Single Day And Don't Know It.

14 | Chauffeur

The word chauffeur in French literally means "one that heats," as the first ever chauffeurs were the people paid to keep a steam engine running. However, with the invention of automobiles, the French began to call carriage drivers chauffeurs as well, eventually lending the word to anyone paid to drive others around.

15 | Chafe

The word "chafe" comes from the french word chaufer, meaning "to make warm" or "to heat". Though this makes sense considering what it means to chafe, it's also odd, given that this is the same French word that gave us "chauffeur."

16 | Funk

When Mark Ronson wrote "Uptown Funk," he probably wasn't thinking about the word's original meaning. Evidently, the word derives from the old French fungier, meaning "to give off smoke" or "to fill with smoke," and was once used to describe tobacco smoke. And if you're starting to notice that you've got an unpleasant one of these, you'll want to check out the 15 Ways You're Showering Wrong.

17 | Jumbo

In the 1880s, Jumbo was not an adjective, but an elephant traveling with U.S. circus showman P.T. Barnum. Weighing in at 6.15 tons, the 10-foot-tall animal was certainly large, even in comparison to the rest of its elephantine relatives (who weigh an average of 6 tons). Given the elephant's extraordinary size, it's little surprise that today the word "jumbo" is used to describe something "unusually large for its type."

18 | Girl

The word "girl" isn't historically tied to a specific gender. Rather, as professor emeritus of linguistics Sally McConnell-Ginet explained to the Huffington Post, it was first used in the 13th century to refer to a young person in general, whether they were male or female. Up until the 16th century, "gay girls" were young women and "knave girls" were young men.

19 | Daisy

These flowers get their name from the Old English dægesege, meaning "day's eye." While this name seems random, it's actually quite appropriate, as daisy petals open at dawn and close again at dusk. And before you treat that special someone to daisies or another beauteous bloom, read up on The Romantic Man's Guide to Buying the Perfect Flowers.

20 | Apron

The word that you now know to be "apron" first appeared in the 14th century as "napron," a derivative of the medieval French word naperon (referring to a cloth placed over a tablecloth to avoid stains). As people used the word napron in speech, the boundaries of words were blurred, and a napron became replaced with an apron entirely by the 17th century.

21 | Tuxedo

The tuxedo made its first appearance at a country club in Tuxedo Park, New York, thus giving the dinner jacket its name. According to accounts from Tuxedo Club founding member Grenville Kane, it was fellow member James Brown Potter who brought the short jacket home from a trip to Sandringham in England and began the new trend in men's fashion.

22 | Candidate

Ironically enough, the word "candidate" and the word "candid" share the same root: the latin candidus, meaning "bright white." Why is this ironic? In Rome, politicians often wore white yogas, as the color was associated with honesty.

23 | Upper and lower case

The terms "upper case" and "lower case" have quite literal meanings. At the beginning of the printing press (back when there weren't computers and nothing was automated), the letter blocks for capital letters were stored in higher cases (the "upper case") than those for the small versions of the letters (the "lower case").

24 | Flammable

Originally, warning labels cautioned that certain products were "inflammable." However, safety experts feared that people would get confused by the prefix, and so they shortened "inflammable" to "flammable." Today, both words mean the same thing: easily set on fire.

25 | Guard

The word "guard" comes from the French word garde, which in turn comes from the English word "ward." When the French were creating the word garde (meaning "to keep"), they replaced the "w" sound in "ward" with a "g" sound, thus creating the basis for "guard." Because of all of this back-and-forth, we now have the words "ward," "warden," "guard," and "guardian"—despite the fact that they are very similar in meaning.

26 | Cappuccino

The Capuchin friars, part of the Franciscan order of monks, are known for wearing plain brown robes with long, pointed hoods hanging down their backs (called cappuccios in Italian). While these cappuccinos weren't java fanatics, their robes were the same color as the espresso mixed with froth milk, thus explaining how their name and the name of a popular coffee drink became one and the same.

27 | Salary

This common word finds its roots in the Latin word salarius, meaning "of or pertaining to salt." In ancient Rome, money and salt were closely connected; the mineral was a pricey but necessary commodity back then, and most warrior's salaries were spent entirely on it. This relationship gave way to the word that now describes the fixed amount of money you receive from your employer every few weeks.

28 | Hazard

The origins of the word "hazard" are only based on speculation. However, it is believed that the word comes from the Old French hasard, meaning a "game of chance played with dice," and that its definition eventually evolved from "a game of chance" to "a chance of harm" in the 1500s.

29 | Sarcasm

When someone gets sarcastic with you, their remarks can cut deep and hit you where it hurts. And this makes sense, given that the word comes from the late Greek sarkazein, literally meaning "to strip off the flesh." Ouch!

30 | Disaster

Once upon a time, the Greeks would blame all of their misfortunes on the stars and the unfavorable positions of the planets, and so the original meaning of the word "disaster" was "an unfavorable aspect of a planet or star." The word itself even has roots in the Latin astro, meaning "star."