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- Why was Spook a slur used to refer to African Americans?
What I don't understand is why Spook seems to also mean 'ghost' in German Did the Americans call them spooks because the Germans did? If so, why did the Germans call them that? Or, if the Germans called them that because Americans called them spooks, then why did the Americans call them that?
- Why is c*nt so much more derogatory in the US than the UK?
That's a very good question It certainly is offensive here in the US, and I'm not sure why it's considered so much worse than other "Anglo-Saxon" words I've used all of the other ones on occasion But in 52 years, I've used "cunt" anatomically only a handful of times, and I can't recall ever using it as a slang reference for a woman
- indefinite articles - Is it a usual or an usual? Why? - English . . .
An hour is correct, because hour starts with a vowel sound People seem to ask most often about words that start with the letters h and u because sometimes these words start with vowel sounds and sometimes they start with consonant sounds
- Why does gasoline have the word gas in it, if its never gaseous?
The etymology according to Dictionary com: gasoline coined 1865 as gasolene, from gas (q v ) + chemical suffix -ine -ene current spelling is 1871; shortened form gas first recorded Amer Eng 1
- etymology - Why shrink (of a psychiatrist)? - English Language . . .
I'm afraid I have to disagree here From my understanding, and a recent article in the Atlantic, derived from the new text Marketplace of the Marvelous: The Strange Origins of Modern Medicine, referring to a psychiatrist as a shrink refers not specifically to head-shrinking tribesmen, but to the field of phrenology, a significantly closer cultural institution to psychiatry
- Is the primary usage of Daddy sexual now? Why?
As to why someone would avoid the use of Daddy, other than family culture (my parents were always Mom and Dad; I have no idea why), well, yes, there could be some confusion, but I don't think the notion of censoring oneself from using Daddy is all that common, especially among parents Is the primary usage of “Daddy” sexual now?
- Why is the ph pronounced like a v in Stephen? Is this the only . . .
The source of Stephen is the Greek name Stephanos This name was borrowed into English long enough ago that the intervocalic [f] sound was voiced to become [v]
- terminology - Why use BCE CE instead of BC AD? - English Language . . .
Why do people use the latter terminology? For one thing, I find it confusing It doesn't help that BCE is similar to BC But moreover, there is only one letter of difference between the two terms, whereas with BC and AD, the terms are clearly different and I find it easier to distinguish! Were BCE CE established earlier than BC AD?
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