This is a short one, but surprising. I always thought of wow as a modern word. So when I looked it up, I was shocked to see that it’s from 1510!

Wow is a Scottish interjection, one of those that arise from a natural sound we make when surprised by something. Much like whoa, ow, ouch, huh, and the like.

It became a verb in more modern days, though–we only started wowing people in the 1920s, originating in America. 😉

But in my defense, it’s a word that waxed and waned in popularity. It apparently took on new life in the early 1900s after being not so in use prior, and then had another surge in the 1960s. Which has carried through to now.

And of course, had led to one of my four-year-old’s favorite sayings: Wowwy-zowwy-coppa-bowwy! (Or however one would spell that…)

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