# The Atoz Game (Part 3) **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [December 2, 2025, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341 "2025-12-02T22:20:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 36
**Author:** ![knoodler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@knoodler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knoodler)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/701 "2026-03-09T21:04:45Z")
**Footwear** Adidas Buster Brown Crocs Doctor Scholls Earth Shoes Flip-flops Galoshes Hush Puppies Irregular Choice Jackboots Klomps Loafers Moccasins New Balance Oxfords _(not brogues)_ Penny Loafers Que Shebley Reeboks Saucony TUSA Sport UGGs Vellies Wellington Boots ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/702 "2026-03-10T13:44:27Z")
**Footwear** Adidas Buster Brown Crocs Doctor Scholls Earth Shoes Flip-flops Galoshes Hush Puppies Irregular Choice Jackboots Klomps Loafers Moccasins New Balance Oxfords _(not brogues)_ Penny Loafers Que Shebley Reeboks Saucony TUSA Sport UGGs Vellies Wellington Boots Xtep ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/703 "2026-03-10T14:42:39Z")
**Footwear** Adidas Buster Brown Crocs Doctor Scholls Earth Shoes Flip-flops Galoshes Hush Puppies Irregular Choice Jackboots Klomps Loafers Moccasins New Balance Oxfords _(not brogues)_ Penny Loafers Que Shebley Reeboks Saucony TUSA Sport UGGs Vellies Wellington Boots Xtep Y-3 by Yohji Yamamoto ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/704 "2026-03-10T14:51:54Z")
**Footwear** Adidas Buster Brown Crocs Doctor Scholls Earth Shoes Flip-flops Galoshes Hush Puppies Irregular Choice Jackboots Klomps Loafers Moccasins New Balance Oxfords _(not brogues)_ Penny Loafers Que Shebley Reeboks Saucony TUSA Sport UGGs Vellies Wellington Boots Xtep Y-3 by Yohji Yamamoto ZIGIny **Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/705 "2026-03-10T22:38:23Z")
**Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) Badminton (named for Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the estate of the Duke of Beaufort) ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/706 "2026-03-12T00:11:38Z")
**Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) Badminton (named for Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the estate of the Duke of Beaufort) Cantaloupe (named for the papal village of Cantalupo, Italy, where the seeds were cultivated. The name means “singing wolf”, or “place where the wolves sing”). ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/707 "2026-03-12T04:23:03Z")
**Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) Badminton (named for Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the estate of the Duke of Beaufort) Cantaloupe (named for the papal village of Cantalupo, Italy, where the seeds were cultivated. The name means “singing wolf”, or “place where the wolves sing”). Derrick (originally a gallows, later a hoist, crane or structure over an oil well, from the surname of a hangman at London’s Tyburn gallows in the early 1600s) ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/708 "2026-03-12T16:44:41Z")
**Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) Badminton (named for Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the estate of the Duke of Beaufort) Cantaloupe (named for the papal village of Cantalupo, Italy, where the seeds were cultivated. The name means “singing wolf”, or “place where the wolves sing”). Derrick (originally a gallows, later a hoist, crane or structure over an oil well, from the surname of a hangman at London’s Tyburn gallows in the early 1600s) Ear (“grain part of corn” from Old English æher, which means spike or head of grain) ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/709 "2026-03-13T12:09:05Z")
**Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) Badminton (named for Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the estate of the Duke of Beaufort) Cantaloupe (named for the papal village of Cantalupo, Italy, where the seeds were cultivated. The name means “singing wolf”, or “place where the wolves sing”). Derrick (originally a gallows, later a hoist, crane or structure over an oil well, from the surname of a hangman at London’s Tyburn gallows in the early 1600s) Ear (“grain part of corn” from Old English æher, which means spike or head of grain) Filbert (another name for a hazelnut, may come from the nut maturing arr. St. Philibert’s feast day) ---
**Author:** ![Bicycle\_Bill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bicycle_bill/32/6208_2.png) [@Bicycle\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bicycle_Bill)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/710 "2026-03-13T13:10:52Z")
**Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) Badminton (named for Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the estate of the Duke of Beaufort) Cantaloupe (named for the papal village of Cantalupo, Italy, where the seeds were cultivated. The name means “singing wolf”, or “place where the wolves sing”). Derrick (originally a gallows, later a hoist, crane or structure over an oil well, from the surname of a hangman at London’s Tyburn gallows in the early 1600s) Ear (“grain part of corn” from Old English æher, which means spike or head of grain) Filbert (another name for a hazelnut, may come from the nut maturing arr. St. Philibert’s feast day) Grenade (from the French _grenate_ and the Spanish _grenada_, meaning ‘pomegranate’ – which the hand-thrown bomb resembled) _ **-“BB”-** _ ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/711 "2026-03-13T13:25:35Z")
**Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) Badminton (named for Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the estate of the Duke of Beaufort) Cantaloupe (named for the papal village of Cantalupo, Italy, where the seeds were cultivated. The name means “singing wolf”, or “place where the wolves sing”). Derrick (originally a gallows, later a hoist, crane or structure over an oil well, from the surname of a hangman at London’s Tyburn gallows in the early 1600s) Ear (“grain part of corn” from Old English æher, which means spike or head of grain) Filbert (another name for a hazelnut, may come from the nut maturing arr. St. Philibert’s feast day) Grenade (from the French _grenate_ and the Spanish _grenada_, meaning ‘pomegranate’ – which the hand-thrown bomb resembled) Husband (from the Old Norse _hūsbōndi_, literally meaning “house dweller.”) It combines _hūs_ (house) and _bōndi_ (occupier or freeholder), originally referring to the master of a household rather than a marital status. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/712 "2026-03-13T15:24:12Z")
**Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) Badminton (named for Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the estate of the Duke of Beaufort) Cantaloupe (named for the papal village of Cantalupo, Italy, where the seeds were cultivated. The name means “singing wolf”, or “place where the wolves sing”). Derrick (originally a gallows, later a hoist, crane or structure over an oil well, from the surname of a hangman at London’s Tyburn gallows in the early 1600s) Ear (“grain part of corn” from Old English æher, which means spike or head of grain) Filbert (another name for a hazelnut, may come from the nut maturing arr. St. Philibert’s feast day) Grenade (from the French _grenate_ and the Spanish _grenada_, meaning ‘pomegranate’ – which the hand-thrown bomb resembled) Husband (from the Old Norse _hūsbōndi_, literally meaning “house dweller.”) It combines _hūs_ (house) and _bōndi_ (occupier or freeholder), originally referring to the master of a household rather than a marital status. Ion (coined in 1834 by English polymath William Whewell for physicist Michael Faraday, derived from the Greek word _ion_ meaning “going,” which is the neuter present participle of _ienai_"to go".) ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/713 "2026-03-13T19:36:21Z")
**Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) Badminton (named for Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the estate of the Duke of Beaufort) Cantaloupe (named for the papal village of Cantalupo, Italy, where the seeds were cultivated. The name means “singing wolf”, or “place where the wolves sing”). Derrick (originally a gallows, later a hoist, crane or structure over an oil well, from the surname of a hangman at London’s Tyburn gallows in the early 1600s) Ear (“grain part of corn” from Old English æher, which means spike or head of grain) Filbert (another name for a hazelnut, may come from the nut maturing arr. St. Philibert’s feast day) Grenade (from the French _grenate_ and the Spanish _grenada_, meaning ‘pomegranate’ – which the hand-thrown bomb resembled) Husband (from the Old Norse _hūsbōndi_, literally meaning “house dweller.”) It combines _hūs_ (house) and _bōndi_ (occupier or freeholder), originally referring to the master of a household rather than a marital status. Ion (coined in 1834 by English polymath William Whewell for physicist Michael Faraday, derived from the Greek word _ion_ meaning “going,” which is the neuter present participle of _ienai_"to go".) July, named for Julius Caesar ---
**Author:** ![knoodler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@knoodler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knoodler)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/714 "2026-03-13T21:46:13Z")
**Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) Badminton (named for Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the estate of the Duke of Beaufort) Cantaloupe (named for the papal village of Cantalupo, Italy, where the seeds were cultivated. The name means “singing wolf”, or “place where the wolves sing”). Derrick (originally a gallows, later a hoist, crane or structure over an oil well, from the surname of a hangman at London’s Tyburn gallows in the early 1600s) Ear (“grain part of corn” from Old English æher, which means spike or head of grain) Filbert (another name for a hazelnut, may come from the nut maturing arr. St. Philibert’s feast day) Grenade (from the French _grenate_ and the Spanish _grenada_, meaning ‘pomegranate’ – which the hand-thrown bomb resembled) Husband (from the Old Norse _hūsbōndi_, literally meaning “house dweller.”) It combines _hūs_ (house) and _bōndi_ (occupier or freeholder), originally referring to the master of a household rather than a marital status. Ion (coined in 1834 by English polymath William Whewell for physicist Michael Faraday, derived from the Greek word _ion_ meaning “going,” which is the neuter present participle of _ienai_"to go".) July, named for Julius Caesar Knickerbocker (a type of clothing) Coined by Washington Irving in his book _History of New York_, where he ascribes the name to a fictitious writer of Dutch descent. The name is picked up and used to describe old Dutch-descended aristocracy in New York by way of their long-stemmed pipes and short pants, eventually used to name social and sporting clubs of the region (i.e., the New York Knicks). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2026, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/715 "2026-03-14T05:11:56Z")
**Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) Badminton (named for Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the estate of the Duke of Beaufort) Cantaloupe (named for the papal village of Cantalupo, Italy, where the seeds were cultivated. The name means “singing wolf”, or “place where the wolves sing”). Derrick (originally a gallows, later a hoist, crane or structure over an oil well, from the surname of a hangman at London’s Tyburn gallows in the early 1600s) Ear (“grain part of corn” from Old English æher, which means spike or head of grain) Filbert (another name for a hazelnut, may come from the nut maturing arr. St. Philibert’s feast day) Grenade (from the French _grenate_ and the Spanish _grenada_, meaning ‘pomegranate’ – which the hand-thrown bomb resembled) Husband (from the Old Norse _hūsbōndi_, literally meaning “house dweller.”) It combines _hūs_ (house) and _bōndi_ (occupier or freeholder), originally referring to the master of a household rather than a marital status. Ion (coined in 1834 by English polymath William Whewell for physicist Michael Faraday, derived from the Greek word _ion_ meaning “going,” which is the neuter present participle of _ienai_"to go".) July, named for Julius Caesar Knickerbocker (a type of clothing) Labia (from the Latin for “lip”) ---
**Author:** ![Bicycle\_Bill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bicycle_bill/32/6208_2.png) [@Bicycle\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bicycle_Bill)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2026, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/716 "2026-03-14T13:18:27Z")
**Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) Badminton (named for Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the estate of the Duke of Beaufort) Cantaloupe (named for the papal village of Cantalupo, Italy, where the seeds were cultivated. The name means “singing wolf”, or “place where the wolves sing”). Derrick (originally a gallows, later a hoist, crane or structure over an oil well, from the surname of a hangman at London’s Tyburn gallows in the early 1600s) Ear (“grain part of corn” from Old English æher, which means spike or head of grain) Filbert (another name for a hazelnut, may come from the nut maturing arr. St. Philibert’s feast day) Grenade (from the French _grenate_ and the Spanish _grenada_, meaning ‘pomegranate’ – which the hand-thrown bomb resembled) Husband (from the Old Norse _hūsbōndi_, literally meaning “house dweller.”) It combines _hūs_ (house) and _bōndi_ (occupier or freeholder), originally referring to the master of a household rather than a marital status. Ion (coined in 1834 by English polymath William Whewell for physicist Michael Faraday, derived from the Greek word _ion_ meaning “going,” which is the neuter present participle of _ienai_"to go".) July, named for Julius Caesar Knickerbocker (a type of clothing) Labia (from the Latin for “lip”) Macadam (a paving surface named for its developer, John Loudon McAdam) _ **-“BB”-** _ ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2026, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/717 "2026-03-15T03:20:40Z")
**Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) Badminton (named for Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the estate of the Duke of Beaufort) Cantaloupe (named for the papal village of Cantalupo, Italy, where the seeds were cultivated. The name means “singing wolf”, or “place where the wolves sing”). Derrick (originally a gallows, later a hoist, crane or structure over an oil well, from the surname of a hangman at London’s Tyburn gallows in the early 1600s) Ear (“grain part of corn” from Old English æher, which means spike or head of grain) Filbert (another name for a hazelnut, may come from the nut maturing arr. St. Philibert’s feast day) Grenade (from the French _grenate_ and the Spanish _grenada_, meaning ‘pomegranate’ – which the hand-thrown bomb resembled) Husband (from the Old Norse _hūsbōndi_, literally meaning “house dweller.”) It combines _hūs_ (house) and _bōndi_ (occupier or freeholder), originally referring to the master of a household rather than a marital status. Ion (coined in 1834 by English polymath William Whewell for physicist Michael Faraday, derived from the Greek word _ion_ meaning “going,” which is the neuter present participle of _ienai_"to go".) July, named for Julius Caesar Knickerbocker (a type of clothing) Labia (from the Latin for “lip”) Macadam (a paving surface named for its developer, John Loudon McAdam) Nankeen (a yellow cotton cloth popular in the 1800s, named for Nanking, China, where it was originally made) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2026, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/718 "2026-03-15T03:52:11Z")
**Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) Badminton (named for Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the estate of the Duke of Beaufort) Cantaloupe (named for the papal village of Cantalupo, Italy, where the seeds were cultivated. The name means “singing wolf”, or “place where the wolves sing”). Derrick (originally a gallows, later a hoist, crane or structure over an oil well, from the surname of a hangman at London’s Tyburn gallows in the early 1600s) Ear (“grain part of corn” from Old English æher, which means spike or head of grain) Filbert (another name for a hazelnut, may come from the nut maturing arr. St. Philibert’s feast day) Grenade (from the French _grenate_ and the Spanish _grenada_, meaning ‘pomegranate’ – which the hand-thrown bomb resembled) Husband (from the Old Norse _hūsbōndi_, literally meaning “house dweller.”) It combines _hūs_ (house) and _bōndi_ (occupier or freeholder), originally referring to the master of a household rather than a marital status. Ion (coined in 1834 by English polymath William Whewell for physicist Michael Faraday, derived from the Greek word _ion_ meaning “going,” which is the neuter present participle of _ienai_"to go".) July, named for Julius Caesar Knickerbocker (a type of clothing) Labia (from the Latin for “lip”) Macadam (a paving surface named for its developer, John Loudon McAdam) Nankeen (a yellow cotton cloth popular in the 1800s, named for Nanking, China, where it was originally made) Okay - Started with a 1830’s fad of intentionally misspelling and abbreviating phrases. “All correct” became “oll korrect” which became “ok”. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2026, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/719 "2026-03-15T04:24:23Z")
**Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) Badminton (named for Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the estate of the Duke of Beaufort) Cantaloupe (named for the papal village of Cantalupo, Italy, where the seeds were cultivated. The name means “singing wolf”, or “place where the wolves sing”). Derrick (originally a gallows, later a hoist, crane or structure over an oil well, from the surname of a hangman at London’s Tyburn gallows in the early 1600s) Ear (“grain part of corn” from Old English æher, which means spike or head of grain) Filbert (another name for a hazelnut, may come from the nut maturing arr. St. Philibert’s feast day) Grenade (from the French _grenate_ and the Spanish _grenada_, meaning ‘pomegranate’ – which the hand-thrown bomb resembled) Husband (from the Old Norse _hūsbōndi_, literally meaning “house dweller.”) It combines _hūs_ (house) and _bōndi_ (occupier or freeholder), originally referring to the master of a household rather than a marital status. Ion (coined in 1834 by English polymath William Whewell for physicist Michael Faraday, derived from the Greek word _ion_ meaning “going,” which is the neuter present participle of _ienai_"to go".) July, named for Julius Caesar Knickerbocker (a type of clothing) Labia (from the Latin for “lip”) Macadam (a paving surface named for its developer, John Loudon McAdam) Nankeen (a yellow cotton cloth popular in the 1800s, named for Nanking, China, where it was originally made) Okay - Started with a 1830’s fad of intentionally misspelling and abbreviating phrases. “All correct” became “oll korrect” which became “ok”. Palaver - per Merriam-Webster, “originated in the early 18th century as sailors’ slang, derived from the Portuguese word _palavra_” Here’s more: “Meaning word, speech, or talk. It was adopted along the West African coast during trade, where Portuguese traders used it for discussions with locals, eventually evolving in English to mean long, idle, or tedious talk.” ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341/720 "2026-03-16T04:42:54Z")
**Words with a very particular etymology** Aubergine (eggplant in British English, from the Arab _Bāḏinjān_) Badminton (named for Badminton House in Gloucestershire, the estate of the Duke of Beaufort) Cantaloupe (named for the papal village of Cantalupo, Italy, where the seeds were cultivated. The name means “singing wolf”, or “place where the wolves sing”). Derrick (originally a gallows, later a hoist, crane or structure over an oil well, from the surname of a hangman at London’s Tyburn gallows in the early 1600s) Ear (“grain part of corn” from Old English æher, which means spike or head of grain) Filbert (another name for a hazelnut, may come from the nut maturing arr. St. Philibert’s feast day) Grenade (from the French _grenate_ and the Spanish _grenada_, meaning ‘pomegranate’ – which the hand-thrown bomb resembled) Husband (from the Old Norse _hūsbōndi_, literally meaning “house dweller.”) It combines _hūs_ (house) and _bōndi_ (occupier or freeholder), originally referring to the master of a household rather than a marital status. Ion (coined in 1834 by English polymath William Whewell for physicist Michael Faraday, derived from the Greek word _ion_ meaning “going,” which is the neuter present participle of _ienai_"to go".) July, named for Julius Caesar Knickerbocker (a type of clothing) Labia (from the Latin for “lip”) Macadam (a paving surface named for its developer, John Loudon McAdam) Nankeen (a yellow cotton cloth popular in the 1800s, named for Nanking, China, where it was originally made) Okay - Started with a 1830’s fad of intentionally misspelling and abbreviating phrases. “All correct” became “oll korrect” which became “ok”. Palaver - per Merriam-Webster, “originated in the early 18th century as sailors’ slang, derived from the Portuguese word _palavra_” Quinoa (a grain originally from Peru, from the Spanish spelling of Quechua (Inca) kinua) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341.md?page=35) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-atoz-game-part-3/1025341.md?page=37)