Coming as I do from a state below the Mason-Dixon line, we have humid, hot summers…and so, love our air-conditioners.

But where did these things come from, and when? Did the words always mean devices that cool us?

Nope! When the terms air-conditioning and air-conditioner were coined, they meant something very different. Dating from 1909, these terms were invented for use in textile manufacturing. The moisture-content of the air was critical in spinning cotton into a fine yarn, so machines were built that were meant to cleanse the air and regulate the moisture content.

But of course, though industry may pave the way, the general populace tends to pick up on clever inventions too, right? By the 1930s, large stores and restaurants were using similar methods to cool the air.

Are you from a region where air-conditioning is considered mandatory?

Word Nerds Merch!

Do you like mowing the lawn? Confession: I have never in my life done that job. My dad told me I should learn and I believe I said something like, “No thanks.” When living in an apartment during and after college, it was irrelevant. And after we moved to a house, we delegated tasks, and outdoor stuff like lawn care went to my husband. These days, my son has taken over much of the mowing. And I’m quite happy to let them at it. 😉

And as it turns out, my opinion is very classical. Lawn dates from about 1540 as “turf, a stretch of grass,” but not usually in a cultivated sense. It came directly from Middle English laune, which was “a meadow, open space in a forest or between woods.” Etymologists think this Middle English word was borrowed either from the Old French lande, meaning “heath, moor, barren land, clearing” or the Germanic ladam of similar meaning, from which we got land.

But it wasn’t until the 1730s that anyone thought to cultivate and mow these grassy expanses! The first written record we have of such a thing is from 1733.

Do you enjoy tending a lawn or does it rank as a dreaded chore in your family?

Word Nerds Merch!

Picnic. When we say the word, we have something definite in mind, right? To us, a picnic is an outdoor meal, often where we haul our food in with us from someplace else.

Turns out that meaning didn’t evolve until the mid-1800s. So what was it before?

Picnic was first used in 1748, but the event itself was rare before 1800, so far as historians can tell. And while always used to describe a certain type of meal, it was originally not meant in the way we think of now. You know what it was originally? A potluck! The earliest definitions of the word are for “a fashionable social affair, usually indoors, where every partaker brings something to contribute to the general table.”

Where did the word itself come from? That’s great question. Most etymologists agree we borrowed the word from French, but the root words are unclear. In fact, the Century Dictionary has this to say:

As in many other riming names, the elements are used without precision, but the lit. sense is appar. ‘a picking or nibbling of bits,’ a snatch, snack ….

Picnic basket dates from 1857, picnic table from 1858 for a folding table one would transport, and the metaphorical sense of something being easy is from 1886.

Do you enjoy picnics? Are you a blanket-on-the-group type, or a give-me-a-table-and-umbrella type?

Word Nerds Merch!

Today, David and I are celebrating our 23rd wedding anniversary!

So, of course, I thought we’d take a look at the word anniversary. That ann- prefix gives us a good idea where it comes from, sharing a root as it does with annual, from the Latin annus, for year. Latin also has anniversarium, from which English directly borrowed the word.

Originally, though, this wasn’t a word used for wedding dates or even birthdays, despite it’s very literal definition of “annual return of a certain date of the year.” Originally, the word was reserved for the day of death, especially martyrdom, of saints!

Who knew?

Word Nerds Merch!