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One-Word
Terms
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Admiral
Barbecue
Customize
Dadgum
Fahrvergnugen
Finalize
Glamorize
Horseradish
Motorize
Phoney
Quip
Sanitize
Vitalize
Admiral- The Arabic
phrase "amir
al bahr", which means "lord of the sea", is where the word "admiral"
originates.
Barbecue-
This word originates from French-speaking pirates who called this
Caribbean pork feast "de barbe et queue" which translates "from beard
to tail". In other words, the pig roast reflected the fact that
the hog was an animal that could be consumed from head to toe;
very little was wasted.
Customize,
Finalize, Glamorize, Motorize, Sanitize, Vitalize- All of
these words were invented by American advertising agencies.
Dadgum-
A light-hearted alternate of "god damn". Popular
interjection: dadgummit. An alternate of dadgum is
dadburn. This expression is used mainly in the Southern United
States.
Fahrvergnugen-
This
word became a media joke in the 90s, and bothered the heck out of
us who didn't know what it was. It is German for "driving
enjoyment" and was an advertising slogan developed by Volkswagen in
1990 for a U.S. ad campaigan. "Fahren", in German, means "to
drive" and "vergnugen" means "enjoyment". Over the years, when
people talk about this word, it is sometimes spelled as it sounds:
farfegnugen.
Horseradish-
The
word
"horse" in horseradish has absolutely nothing to do with the
animal. It means "course" or "rough."
Phoney-
In
the
early days of telephones, a person's voice on the phone would
sound little like his/her true voice. Ah...the days of crude
technology. The word "phoney" came about because of this
fact. Nowadays, the word is applied to anything that is fake or
unreal.
Quip-
Is short for the term "quid pro quo" and means a fast retort.