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Etymology

hether you’re a native speaker or currently
learning English, you will be amazed at some
Wof the stories behind words you use every day.
From tales of frenzied Viking warriors to a theatre-owner’s
bet to get people using a made-up word, a little-thought-
about history lies waiting to be discovered. Knowing more
about the words we use, makes studying English even more
fun, so here are fourteen of our favourite word origins –
and we’ve barely scratched the surface!

Legend has it that a Dublin theatre-owner made a bet
that he could introduce a new word into the English
language within a day or two and that the people of Dublin
would make up the meaning of the word themselves.
So he wrote the nonsense word “quiz” on some pieces
of paper and got a gang of street urchins to write it on
walls across Dublin. The next day everyone was talking
about it, and it wasn’t long before it became incorporated
into everyday language, meaning a sort of “test”, because
this is what the people thought the mysterious word was
Dunce supposed to be.

Duns was known as “Doctor Subtilis” because of the
subtlety ofhis thinking.
The origin of this derogatory word for someone
considered incapable of learning (the opposite of a
“bright” student) is surprisingly old, dating to the time
of one John Duns Scotus, who was born around 1266
and died in 1308. Scotus was a Scottish Franciscan
philosopher and theologian whose works on metaphysics,
theology, grammar and logic were so popular that they
earned him the honour of a papal accolade.
Well, the Renaissance came along and poor Duns’
theories and methods were widely discredited by scholars,
while Duns’ supporters clung to his ideas; subsequently,
the word “Dunsman” or “Dunce” was used in Medieval Berserk
times in a derogatory fashion to describe those who
continued to support outdated ideas.
Quiz A berserker pictured with Odin.

The story behind the origins of the word “quiz” is so When someone “goes berserk”, they go into a frenzy (out
of control with anger or excitement; wild or frenzied.),
good that we really wish it was true –but it probably isn’t.
run amok, perhaps even destroying things. Picture
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