👽 What are some common English words of unknown origin?
🤖 Nerd
A person who is boring, stupid and not fashionable
The word nerd is documented to have been first used in the 1950s in the United States. It first appeared in a 1951 article in Newsweek, which declared ‘In Detroit, someone who once would be called a drip or a square is now, regrettably, a nerd.”
Even before that, nerd was used by Dr. Seuss in his book If I Ran the Zoo (published in 1950) as the name of an imaginary creature. However, it is not known where the word really came from.
🤖 Nerd
A person who is boring, stupid and not fashionable
The word nerd is documented to have been first used in the 1950s in the United States. It first appeared in a 1951 article in Newsweek, which declared ‘In Detroit, someone who once would be called a drip or a square is now, regrettably, a nerd.”
Even before that, nerd was used by Dr. Seuss in his book If I Ran the Zoo (published in 1950) as the name of an imaginary creature. However, it is not known where the word really came from.
🔩Junk
Things that are considered useless or of little value
Junk can be traced back to the Old English word jonke of unknown origin, which used to denote an old or inferior rope. It was first used in its current sense in the 19th century.
Things that are considered useless or of little value
Junk can be traced back to the Old English word jonke of unknown origin, which used to denote an old or inferior rope. It was first used in its current sense in the 19th century.
🧩 Conundrum
A confusing problem or question that is very difficult to solve
Conundrum has been in use since the 16th century. It was first recorded in a work by Thomas Nashe as a word used to describe someone who is an eccentric or a pedant, and was later used to denote a pun.
Again, no one really knows where the word originates from, but there are some theories.
According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, conundrum was probably created by students of Latin in Oxford University as a nonsense word. It has been used according to its present meaning since the late 17th century.
A confusing problem or question that is very difficult to solve
Conundrum has been in use since the 16th century. It was first recorded in a work by Thomas Nashe as a word used to describe someone who is an eccentric or a pedant, and was later used to denote a pun.
Again, no one really knows where the word originates from, but there are some theories.
According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, conundrum was probably created by students of Latin in Oxford University as a nonsense word. It has been used according to its present meaning since the late 17th century.
🤕 Zit
A spot on the skin, especially on the face
This word is young compared to the rest on this list; it was first used only in the 1960s and is one of those words which truly have unknown origins.
Little is known about it apart from the fact that it is a slang word created by teenagers in the United States.
A spot on the skin, especially on the face
This word is young compared to the rest on this list; it was first used only in the 1960s and is one of those words which truly have unknown origins.
Little is known about it apart from the fact that it is a slang word created by teenagers in the United States.