Tag: Words

Chocolate Teapots

By Simon

When something is useless you might say it’s as useful as a chocolate teapot or something similar.

Chocolate Teapot

Apparently it first appeared in print in an article entitled Shades of Bunker Hill! by Don berry in the Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York, USA).

Other ways to say that something is useless include:

  • as much use as a chocolate teapot
  • (to) have a reliability record like a chocolate kettle
  • as much use as a chocolate fireguard
  • as much use as a chocolate fireplace
  • as much use as a handbrake on a canoe
  • as much use as a screen door on a submarine
  • as much use as a cat flap on a submarine
  • as much use as a waterproof towel
  • as much use as a dry day in the desert
  • as much use as a glass hammer
  • as useful as a paper boat
  • as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike
  • as useful as tits on a bull
  • as useful as a politician’s promise
  • as useful as a lead balloon

By the way, I made up a few of the sayings above. Can you guess which ones?

Equivalent phrases in other languages include:

  • Polish: potrzebny jak dziura w moście = needed like a hole in a bridge
  • Scottish Gaelic: cho feumail ri pàillean am fàsach = as useful as a palace in a wilderness
  • Vietnamese: cơn bão trong tách trà = a storm in a teacup

Do you know any others?

Incidentally, according to BBC News, chocolate teapots might not be as usesful as they are reputed to be.

Sources: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/useful_as_a_chocolate_teapot
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/useful_as_a_chocolate_teapot
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/104958/origin-of-as-useful-as-a-chocolate-teapot-fireguard
https://www.powerthesaurus.org/as_much_use_as_a_chocolate_teapot/synonyms




Yexing

By Simon

Have you yexed recently? If you have, what did you do to stop your yexes?

Hiccough

The word yex [jɛks] sounds like a made-up word you might find in a children’s book or linguistic experiment – the wug is yexing, yesterday it yex__. However, it is, in fact, a genuine English word, though archaic. As a noun, it means a hiccough / hiccup, belch or burp, and as a verb, it means to hiccough, belch or burp [source].

The verb to yex comes from Middle English yexen [ˈjɛksən] (to hiccough, belch, yawn, gulp, swallow convulsively, gasp, sob) from Old English ġiscian [ˈjis.ki.ɑn] (to sigh, sob), from Proto-West Germanic *giskōn (to gasp, yawn, gulp), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵeys- (gaping, cracked) [source].

The noun yex comes from Middle English yexe / ȝ(e)oxe (the condition of having the hiccoughs), from Old English ġeocsa [ˈjes.kɑ] (sobbing, hiccough), which comes from the same roots as the verb [source].

Words from the same roots include ye(e)sk (a hiccough, belch, the hiccoughs) and to yesk (to hiccough, belch, vomit) in Scots [source], and yux (to sob, weep loudly) in Yola [source].




Bread Vans

By Simon

What would you carry in a bread cart? It could be bread, but doesn’t have to be. Let’s find out more.

面包车

One word that came up in my Chinese lessons this week was 面包车 [麵包車] (miàn​bāo​chē) which can be literally translated as ‘bread vehicle / cart’. According to the MDBG Chinese dictionary, it means a van for carrying people or a taxi minibus. According to Wiktionary, it means a vehicle for delivering bread, or a minibus or van (chiefly in Mainland China).

Other words for van in Chinese include:

  • 货车 [貨車] (huòchē) = truck, van, freight train, goods train, goods wagon
  • 厢式车 [廂式車] (xiāng​shì​chē) = van
  • 小型货车 [小型貨車] (xiǎo​xíng​huò​chē) = light van
  • 廂型車 [厢型车] (xiāngxíngchē) = minivan, van (used in Taiwan)

In Japanese, 貨車 (kasha) is also used, and means a freight train, a train car used to carry freight, or a van [source].

Incidentally, the word van can refer to: a covered motor vehicle used to carry goods or (normally less than 10) persons, usually roughly cuboid in shape. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and longer and higher than a car but relatively smaller than a truck/lorry or a bus [source].

It’s short for caravan, which comes from Middle French caravane (caravan – a group of travellers, merchants, and pilgrims, gathered together to cross the desert more safely), from Old French carvane, from Persian کاروان (kârvân – caravan, convoy), from Middle Persian kʾlwʾn’ (kārawān), from Old Persian 𐎣𐎠𐎼 (k-a-r – the people, subjects, army), from Proto-Iranian *kā́rah (army, crowd), from Proto-Indo-European *kór-o-s, from *ker- (army) [source].

The word vanguard (The leading units at the front of an army or fleet; The person(s) at the forefront of any group or movement) is not related. Instead, it comes from vandgard / (a)vantgard, from Old French avant-garde (the vanguard of an army or other force). This is also the root of the word avant-garde, which in English can refer to any group of people who invent or promote new techniques or concepts, especially in the arts. While in French, it can refer to the vanguard (of an army), or the avant-garde as in English [source].

IMGP8150
guard’s van

A vanguard should not be confused with a guard’s van, which in the UK and Ireland can refer to a van or carriage, or part of one, on a train occupied by the guard, that can be used as storage space for parcels, bicycles, large pieces of luggage, etc. Such things are rarely found on modern passenger trains in the UK, though there may be a small cubbyhole for the train manager (formerly known as the guard), and/or storage space for bicycles on some trains [source].

Omniglot blog - Adventures in the world of words and language - 20 years old

By the way, the day this post was posted, 26th March 2026, marks exactly 20 years since I started this blog on 26th March 2006. Since then, I have posted 3,963 posts here, 3.8 per week on average, and plan to continue doing so. I realised this after posting this, and thought I’d mention it.




Mouchard

By Simon

One of the words that came up last night in the French conversation group was mouchard, which means an informant and various other things. I thought I’d look into it in more detail here.

Histoire de moucharder

Mouchard [mu.ʃaʁ] can mean:

  • a snitch, grass or tell-tale (police informant) – also known as indic, cafteur or cafard in French
  • a bug (hidden microphone)
  • a spyhole or peephole
  • a tachograph (device that records the distance and time traveled by a vehicle)
  • (a piece of) spyware
  • a spyplane
  • a black box, flight recorder

It comes from mouche (a fly, bullseye, historically: a spy employed by the ancien régime to seek out subversive ideas) and -ard (pejorative suffix), from Middle French mousche (a fly), from Old French m(o)usche (a fly) [source], from Latin musca (a fly, an inquisitive or prying person) , from Proto-Indo-European *mu(s)/*mews- (fly). Words from the same roots include midge in English and Mücke (midge, gnat, crane fly, mosquito) in German [source].

Related words include:

  • mouchardage = informing, grassing, ratting
  • moucharder = to rat (on), to tell tales

The French word mouchard has also been borrowed into English, and means an undercover investigator or a police spy, especially in a French-speaking country, or an inverted compass hanging above the captain’s bed. The activity of such people is known mouchardism [source].

Other fly-related expressions in French include:

  • faire mouche = to hit the bullseye, to come off, to hit home, to hit the nail on the head
  • mouche de coche = back-seat driver (person who pretends to be useful by offering unsolicited advice or by running around without actually doing any work)
  • pattes de mouche = scrawl, chicken scratch (illegible handwriting)
  • prendre la mouche = to get offended, to get in a huff, to fly off the handle [source]

Are there interesting equivalents of mouchard in other languages?




Pouring Rain

By Simon

Yesterday it rained quite a lot here in the UK, and rather heavily at times. This got me thinking about the saying it never rains but it pours.

Pouring Rain

This expression means unfortunate events occur in quantity or misfortunes never come singly. A related saying is bad things come in threes. Fortunately this wasn’t the case for me yesterday, apart from a few minor delays and disruptions on the trains I took [source].

It never rains but it pours can apparently also refer to good things happening all at once or to excess, though I suspect the negative meaning is more common. It first appears in It Cannot Rain But It pours, an article by Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope in Prose Miscellanies, and in It cannot Rain but it Pours OR, London ſrowʼd [strowed] with Rarities, a book by John Arbuthnot published in 1726 [source].

There are similar expressions in other languages, including some that refer to rain:

In some languages such sayings mean something like ‘misfortunes do not come alone’ or ‘a misfortune seldom comes alone’:

Here a few other examples that don’t mention rain or misfortune:

  • Ar ein skriðan er lopin er onnur væntandi = when one landslide is over, another is waiting (Faroese)
  • Sjaldan er ein báran stök = rarely is a single bear alone (Icelandic)
  • Nuair a thig air duine, thig air uile = when it befalls one, it befalls all (Scottish Gaelic)




Bons mots

By Simon

What connects bons mots with mottos and muttering? Let’s find out.

bon mot test 2 stitch-out

A bon mot [bɒn məʊ / bɑn moʊ] in English means a clever saying, a phrase or witticism or a witty riposte in dialogue. It comes from French bon mot [bɔ̃ mo], which means the same thing, or literally “good word”. You can also find bon mot in Dutch, Indonesian and other languages [source].

The word mot [mo] in French means a word, note, (short) message or the answer to an enigma. It comes from Middle French mot (word), from Old French mot (word), from Late Latin muttum (a mutter, grunt), from muttīre (to mutter, murmur, talk quietly) from muttiō (to mutter, murmer), which is of onomatopoeic origin and signifies “make a mu-noise” [source].

Other French expressions featuring mot include:

  • demi-mot = a hint (“half-word”)
  • fin mot = the real story, the (whole) truth (“final word”)
  • gros mot = dirty word, swear word (“coarse / rough word”)
  • grand mot = a strong word, strong term (“big-word”)
  • demi-mot = a hint (“half-word”)
  • mot d’esprit = a witticism, bon mot (“word of spirit / wit”)
  • dernier mot = last word

Other words from the same roots possibly include mot (word) in Catalan, motto and mutter in English, mote (nickname, motto) in Spanish, Motto (motto, slogan) in German and motto (philosophy, motto, watchword, byword) in Polish [source].

By the way, the plural of bon mot in French is bons mots, but in English it can be bon mots or bons mots. What about in other languages?




Silly Madness

By Simon

The word mishegoss came up in a book I’m reading at the moment, and I had no idea what it meant, so I thought I’d find out.

mishegoss

Mishegoss [ˌmɪʃəˈɡɒs / ˈmɪʃəɡɒs] is apparently a slang term meaning madness or silliness. It comes from the Yiddish word משוגעת (meshugas), which means craziness, madness, nonsense, crazy talk, senseless activity, irrationality, craze, fad or quirk. That word comes from Yiddish משוגע (meshuge – crazy), from Hebrew משוגע (m’shugá – mad, crazy, insane), from שיגע (shigéa – to drive crazy) [source].

Words from the same roots include mișegos (petty) in Romanian, мишигас [mʲɪʂɨˈɡas] (maddness, insanity) in Russian, мешигос (mešyhós – maddness) in Ukrainian, mesüge (crazy) in Hungarian, and meshugge (crazy, mad, senseless, insane) in English [source].

I think I’ve heard or seen the word meshugge before, though I wasn’t sure what it meant at the time. Apparently it’s been used in English since at least 1880 [source]. Is it mainly used in American English?

Some related words in English include:

  • mashugana = nonsense, silliness, craziness, garbage; a person who is silly or crazy
  • meshugaas = nonsense, rubbish, craziness, a chaotic state of affairs, a mess
  • meshuggener = crazy, insane; a madman, a crazy person, a nutter

Do you use any of these words?




Pages, Pagans & Peasants

By Simon

Are the words page, pagan, peasant and pheasant related? Let’s find out.

pages

Page [peɪdʒ], as in ‘one of the many pieces of paper bound together within a book or similar document’ (other meanings are available) comes from Middle French page, from Latin pāgina (a written page, leaf, sheet), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- (to fasten, fix), which is possibly related to the idea of papyrus sheets fastened to each other, or from fastening / imprinting letters [source].

Words from the same Latin root include página (page) in Spanish, página (page, website) in Portuguese, pagina (page) in Italian, page (page, web page, page boy) in French, and pagină (page) in Romanian [source].

Have a busting belting burning ballsy brilliant #Beltane 🔥

Pagan [ˈpeɪɡən] (Relating to, characteristic of religions that differ from main world religions; savage, immoral, uncivilized, wild.) comes from Middle English pagan, from Latin pāgānus (rural, rustic, unlearned), from pāgus (district, region, countryside, countryfolk) from Proto-Italic *pāgos, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- (to fasten, fix) – perhaps related to fixing boundaries [source].

Words from the same Latin roots include paúl (moor, heath) and peño (foundling) in Spanish, pegno (pledge, security, token) in Italian, pau (stick, wood) in Portuguese, pale, impale, pole, peasant, travail and travel in English, and pow (country, land, region) in Cornish [source].

So page, pagan and peasant are related. What about pheasant?

Pheasant

Pheasant [ˈfɛzənt] (A bird of family Phasianidae) comes from Middle English fesa(u)nt (pheasant), from Old French faisan (pheasant), from Latin phāsiānus, (pheasant), from Ancient Greek φασιανός (phasianós – pheasant), from Φᾶσῐς (Phâsĭs), a river in Greece from where, it was supposed, pheasants spread to the west [source].

So pheasant is not related to page, pagan or peasant.

Incidentally, in Old English, one word for pheasant was worhana, which was also written uuorhana or morhana. It comes from the Proto-Germanic words *wurzô (grouse) and *hanō (cock, rooster), and is possibly related to the modern English word moorhen [source].




Omphaloskepsis

By Simon

Do you engage in omphaloskepsis?

Mimicking UK politicians navel gazing

Omphaloskepsis [ˌɒmfələˈskɛpsɪs] is a very useful word that means the comtemplation of or meditation upon one’s navel, or in other words, navel-gazing. Another definition is ‘Ratiocination* to the point of self-absorption’. It comes from Ancient Greek ὀμφαλός (omphalós – navel) & σκέψις (sképsis – perception, reflection) [source].

*Ratiocination = Reasoning, conscious deliberate inference. Thought or reasoning that is exact, valid and rational. A proposition arrived at by such thought [source].

Related words include:

  • omphaloskeptic = One who contemplates or meditates upon one’s navel; one who engages in omphaloscopy. Likely to, prone to, or engaged in contemplating or meditating upon one’s navel.
  • omphalomancy = Divination by means of a child’s navel, to learn how many children the mother may have.
  • omphalopsychic = Related to or characterised by navel-gazing (omphaloskepsis). Someone who engages in omphaloskepsis, a navel-gazer.

The Modern Greek word ομφαλοσκοπία (omfaloskopía – the action or effect of omphaloscopy. A method of divination involving the examination of the umbilical cord) is also related [source].

The Ancient Greek word ὀμφαλός (omphalós – navel, umbilical cord, anything navel-shaped, centre) comes from Proto-Indo-European *h₃m̥bʰ-l̥- (navel), from *h₃nebʰ- (hub, navel) [source].

Words from the same roots include umbilicus (navel, middle, centre), navel and nave in English, ombelico (navel, umbilicus) in Italian, nombril (navel, belly button, middle) in French, umbigo (navel) in Portuguese, buric (navel, belly button) in Romanian, naaf (hub, nave) in Dutch, Nabel (navel, belly button, centre, middle) in German, and imleacán (navel, belly button) in Irish [source].

By the way, I found the word omphaloskepsis while putting together a Celtiadur post about words for navel, centre and middle in Celtic languages. It appears in the definition of the Welsh word bogailsyllu [bɔɡai̯lˈsəɬɨ / boːɡai̯lˈsəɬi], which means to comtemplate one’s navel, or to engage in navel-gazing or omphaloskepsis [source]. If you are omphaloskeptic, then in Welsh you are bogailsyllol (given to navel-gazing) [source].

The bogail [ˈbɔɡai̯l / ˈboːɡai̯l] in bogailsyllu means navel, umbilicus, belly button or afterbirth, a boss on a shield, a knob a stud, a nave, the hub of a well, middle or centre [source]. It should not be confused with bogail, which means vowel.

Words that mean navel-gazing in other languages include: navlepilleri in Danish, navelstaren in Dutch, nombrillisme in French, Nabelschau in German, and navlebeskuer in Norwegian [source].




Ideophones

By Simon

What does the word tututu make you think of?

Zaanse Schans windmill gears

It’s an ideophone from Bebe (Naami) a language spoken in parts of Cameroon, and to a speaker of Bebe, tututu suggests the sound of a grinding mill.

Other ideophones in Bebe include:

  • kpaŋkpaŋkpaŋ = the sound of a bell
  • gbaaaŋ = the sound of a door closed with force
  • waaa = the sound of a running water
  • ŋgɔɔɔŋ = the sound of a lion roaring
  • ŋaaaŋ = the sound of a baby crying

Source: Naami Orthography Guide, by Grace Tabah and Mkounga Tala Blaise

You can find out more about Bebe on Omniglot – this is a new page I added today, and finding out about the ideophones in this language inspired me to write this post.

An ideophone is a member of the class of words that depict sensory imagery or sensations, evoking ideas of action, sound, movement, color, or shape. They are also known as mimetics or expressives. Unlike onomatopoeic words, which imitate sounds, ideophones can also indicate action, state, intensity, smell, colour or manner. They are common in such languages as Japanese, Korean, Tamil, Yoruba and Zulu.

Here are some examples:

  • がぶがぶ (gabugabu) = gulping, guzzling, gulp gulp – Japanese
  • きびきび (kibikibi) = briskly – Japanese
  • しとしとと降る (shitoshito to furu) = to rain or snow quietly – Japanese
  • 가물가물 (gamulgamul) = (light) fading away into the distance, moving away faintly, in a blurred manner – Korean
  • 버글버글 (beogeulbeogeul) = boilingly while spreading in all directions; bubblingly while spreading in all directions – Korean
  • 꽁냥꽁냥 (kkongnyangkkongnyang) = lovey-dovey – Korean
  • படபட (paṭapaṭa) = fluttering – Tamil
  • புசுபுசு (pucupucu) = soft and bushy, fluffy – Tamil
  • விறுவிறு (viṟuviṟu) = energetically, lively, spicy – Tamil
  • khazimula = shining brightly – Zulu
  • qaqa = bursting – Zulu
  • jabula = happily – Zulu

Does your language have ideophones, or anything similar? Do you have any interesting examples?

For more information about ideophones see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideophone
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Korean_ideophones
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Japanese_onomatopoeias