Another interesting word origin, brought to you by Dictionary.com
maudlin \MAWD-lin\, adjective:
Tearfully or excessively sentimental.
Maudlin is an alteration of (Mary) Magdalene, who in paintings was often represented with eyes red and swollen from weeping.
posted by Mimi @ 9/03/2007 06:05:00 PM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
wow - who would have ever guessed? I love learning about the etiology of words. I have long maintained that "Butterfly" was supposed to be "Flutterby" and got turned around somehow.
I've heard that the word "Kangaroo" is a more or less phoenetic conversion of the Aborigine word for "I don't know". Someone exploring Australia long ago saw the animal and asked a native what it was called. The guy said something that sounded to a native English speaker like "Kangaroo" so the person assumed that was its name.
The story may simply be apocraphal, but I like it. It's a good reminder of how easy it is to misunderstand!
... and Magdalene College at Oxford University is pronounced maudlin
Hi, Mimi. Thanks for your comment on my post. How did you find me? I'm guessing Charli gave you the link, right? She's a dear. And I also do paperbackswap.com ... it's awesome. But I just ran out of credits today when I received another book. Stay in touch! And tell Charli and Patrick hello when you seen them!
very interesting. I'll have to store that little tidbit away to astound people with at a later date. . .
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