We had so much fun with words last week (remember yarn and phat?) that I thought it might be fun to see what else we could learn about the unexpected origins of things we say everyday. So, here goes . . .

HOWDY! One of my favorite greetings that I use a dozen times a day. Well, when I said it last night, it hit me -- why do we say that, where did it come from? And, I was off! I could barely wait to get home and get into it.

I consulted one of my favorite books. It has one of my favorite titles for a book: Folk-Etymology:  A Dictionary of Verbal Corruptions or Words Perverted in Form or Meaning, by False Derivation or Mistaken Analogy. Says it all, doesn't it? It was written by the Rev. A. Smythe Palmer in 1882. The copy I use was a reprint from 1969. I've found the Reverend's book to be particularly helpful when I'm deciphering old letters, especially for settlers from England. But I digress.

In the northern counties of England, "howdy" was actually a name for a midwife because of the first question she asked her mothers-to-be, "How d'ye?" (the translation: "How do you?," or as we say today, "How are you?").

The Rev. Palmer then went on to mention the origins of some other words resulting from questions:

In Ireland, a "pretty how d'-ye-do" is a popular expression for a disordered state of affairs;

"Gargantua," the name for something really big, comes from the French expression "Que grand tu as!" or "How big you are!" the expression used by a character in a French story at his first encounter with a giant hero;

"Manna," that wonderful word for bread from heaven, originally was "man hu" or "What is it?" the inquiry made by the Hebrews when they first saw it on the ground.

Words -- they're just too cool.