Saturday, May 16, 2009

learned a new word

roue:

Etymology:
French, literally, broken on the wheel, from past participle of rouer to break on the wheel, from Medieval Latin rotare, from Latin, to rotate; from the feeling that such a person deserves this punishment
Date:
1800


: a man devoted to a life of sensual pleasure : rake
(From Merriam-Webster online)


...which led me to wonder about the etymology of "rake."

"debauchee," 1653, shortening of rakehell (1547), possibly an alteration (by association with rake (1) and Hell) of M.E. rakel (adj.) "hasty, rash, headstrong," probably from raken "to go, proceed," from O.E. racian, of unknown origin. Rakish first recorded 1706.

(From Online Etymology Dictionary)


But my favorite neologism was coined Friday by a student, unaware that such a word already exists in the Urban Dictionary:

euphobia

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