Friday Word Blogging

I love words. I like to speak them and especially to read them rather than write them. Writing does not come easily to me. It's part of this blog's impetus: to force myself to write with regularity.

Anyhoo, etymology (not to be confused with the frequently engrossing but also frequently gross entomology) fascinates me. In the hope that you find the origin of words interesting too, I introduce Friday Word Blogging. Enjoy...

Wicked Cool Word of the Week: Jiggery-pokery from joukery-paukery. A fine bit of Scots rhyming slag meaning underhanded trickery. Example: "George Bush and his minions engaged in election jiggery-pokery not once but twice."

Stumper Word of the Week (i.e. I had never heard before nor could I discern it's definition by it's usage): Virago. Virago means either an overbearing or a strong woman. Though I'm not sure these definitions are necessarily mutually exclusive, virago seems more frequently used as a negative. Example: "His mother was a virago of a woman."

Silly Word of the Week: Fanny. I know it's immature but it makes me laugh every time. I've been listening to Mike and the Mad Dog here in New York in preparation for this weekend's NFL action. Russo's been saying "that will bite you on the fanny." A lot.

A scandalous new Andalusian etymology of fanny courtesy of kalebeul. Does a 1845 edition of El Fandango hold the key?

Caballero de alto rango
templad vuestro serpentón
para tocar el fandango
a la bella Encarnación.

Does fandango, a dance dating from the prior century, provide the basis for our modern "fanny"? Is this fandango dancing a metaphor for sex? If so, what kind of sex? Just what do I mean by "our modern fanny"? Is it some sort of covert collective fanny or does it have anti-lock brakes? Will Lassie save Tommy/Timmy from the abandoned well? Stay tuned...

We have this priceless low brow fanny nugget from etymonline:

The genital sense is still the primary one outside U.S., but is not current in Amer. Eng., which can have consequences when U.S. TV programs and movies air in Britain.

The lesson, folks, is to be sure to use your "fannies" wisely when going abroad. On that note, I bid you a fond adieu.

-AF