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“bitch.”
    People didn’t always say “hello” when they answered the phone. When the first regular phone service was established in 1878, people said “ahoy.”
    In the late nineteenth century and earlier years of the twentieth century, when gramophones or phonographs amplified the sound through large horns, woolen socks were often stuffed in them to cut down the noise; hence the phrase “put a sock in it.”
    The phrase “son of a gun” derives from the days when women were allowed to live on naval ships. The son of the gun was one born on the ship, often near the mid-?ship gun, behind a canvas screen. If the paternity was uncertain, the child was entered in the log as “son of a gun.”
    The magic word abracadabra was originally intended for the specific purpose of curing hay fever.
    The phrase “Often a bridesmaid, but never a bride” actually comes from an advertisement for Listerine mouthwash.
    The term honeymoon is derived from the Babylonians, who declared mead, a honey-?flavored wine, the official wedding drink, stipulating that the bride’s parents be required to keep the groom supplied with the drink for the month following the wedding.
    The phrase “the boogeyman will get you” refers to the Boogey people who still inhabit an area of Indonesia. These people still act as pirates today and attack passing ships.
    The term mayday used for signaling for help (after SOS) comes from the French M’aidez, which is pronounced mayday and means “help me.”
    “Three-?dog night” (attributed to Australian Aborigines) came about because on especially cold nights, these nomadic people needed three dogs around them to keep from freezing.
    In 1943, Navy officer Grace Hopper found a glitch in her computer. After investigating, she discovered the system had a bug—a real one. It turned out a moth had made its way into Hopper’s computer. Though the word bug has meant “fault” or “defect” since as far back as the 1870s, Hopper’s story is credited with making it the synonym of choice in the computer industry.
    Clans long ago who wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them used to burn down their houses—hence the expression “get fired.”
    The etymology of the “F-?word” remains uncertain, but its origins are likely Anglo-?Saxon. When the word became considered vulgar is also unclear. It was acceptable speech in England until as recently as the seventeenth century.
    The expletive “Holy Toledo” refers to Toledo, Spain, which became an outstanding Christian cultural center in 1085.
    The expression “What in tarnation?” comes from the original phrase “What in eternal damnation?”
    According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition, from 1910–1911, the word toast was borrowed from the Old French toste, which has the Latin root of torrere, tostum, meaning “to scorch or burn.”
    Crack gets its name because it crackles when you smoke it.

FOREIGN TRANSLATION
    German is considered the sister language of English.
    Amphibious is based on Greek words that mean living a double life; amphibians live both on land and in water.
    The word rodent comes from the Latin word rodere, meaning “to gnaw.”
    The words assassination and bump were invented by Shakespeare.
    The Old English word for sneeze is fneosam.
    The U in U-?boats stands for “underwater.”
    The word constipation comes from a Latin word that means “to crowd together.”
    The word curfew originates from an old French word that means “cover fire.”
    Corduroy comes from the French cord du roi or “cloth of the king.”
    In French, essay means “to try, attempt.”
    The word accordion comes from the German word akkord, which means “agreement, harmony.”
    The word calendar comes from Latin and means “to call out.”
    The word hangnail comes from the Middle English: ang-(“painful”) + nail. It has nothing to do with hanging.
    The word kangaroo means “I don’t know” in the language of Australian