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| [fossilized human foostep in stone*] |
Very few people strive to understand the basic elements of their life. For example, Only paleontologists
seek and find fossils or even ancient footsteps on rocks that most of us merely
treat as a static and firm foothold. Likewise, writers, translators and editors consider
words as distinct units, each with its unique past and characteristics, beyond
its role in the context of a sentence. Here are five examples of words in
English still used today that have retained their historical roots.
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| [compass] |
Orientate – This word means to find one’s way. The Swedes used it practically to
describe navigating blindly at sea to arrive at a specific point. However, it
actually comes from the Latin oriens, meaning “the rising sun”. In other
words, you need to find your “east”, not your north as they would say in
Hebrew. By the way, the French town of Lorient was named after a ship, "L'Orient' that was
built to sail eastward to the French colonies in India. Go east, young man.
 |
| [bale of straw] |
Threshold – This word today means “on the edge of” as in the team is on the threshold of
gaining respectability. Its origin is actually as it sounds, i.e., it is
the barrier that held the thresh, generally known as straw, within the floor
area of medieval houses. Tiles and other hard materials were for the rich. For
many centuries, the poor had to be satisfied with straw. On the other hand,
replacing the floor was much less expensive and faster than it is today.
 |
| [dripping faucet] |
There will be the devil to pay – This expression sounds rather straightforward: if
you break the rules, the punishment will be serious. Actually, it probably
comes from the nautical tradition, where the devil was the bottom beam
of a ship that had to be tarred, paid, from time to time to prevent leaking. It
was hot and unpleasant work and reserved for those sailors that were not
sufficiently cooperative. I was told that on modern ships, it is necessary to
periodically paint the engine room, also a quite difficult environment. However, at
least now those tasked for this job get extra pay.
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| [kitchen pipes] |
Plumber - All of us have had to call a plumber, a person that actually knows
how to attach those pipes under the sink. The interesting aspect of the name of
the profession is the root plumb, which refers to lead, the metal.
People forget that for centuries lead was the metal of choice for many household items,
including pots and pans, because it was strong, light and easy to shape. Today,
plastic, iron and ceramic are the standards because lead is actually a
slow-working poison but hindsight is always wonderful. To paraphrase a
well-known movie, lead and lace in the kitchen is not a healthy combination. |
| [coach with 4 horses] |
Teamster – The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is a powerful union
representing truckers and warehouse workers, among others, in the United
States. The word team in the title does not refer to any sports
organization but instead grouped beasts of burden, e.g. horses, oxen, donkeys
and mules, that were used to pull heavy loads, with the driver of such
arrangements referred to a teamster. It has been a few generations, at
least in the Western world, since motor vehicles replaced these animals but the
name stuck. The horsepower remains even without the horse.
Like an ancient footstep immortalized in hard stone, many words show
their past as well as the past of the humans that created them to those that keep
their eyes and mind open. The process is still continuing. It is possible in
the future that people will pen their thoughts without knowing what a pen is. For
linguists, these roots add to the pleasure of language.
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