• Eavesdrop
    • Eavesdrop started off literally: first it referred to the water that fell from the eaves of a house, then it came to mean the ground where that water fell.
    • Eventually, eavesdropper described someone who stood within the eavesdrop of a house to overhear a conversation inside.
    • Over time, the word obtained its current meaning: "to listen secretly to what is said in private."
  • Muscle
    • Muscle comes from the Latin musculus, which means "little mouse."
    • Why? Probably because a flexed muscle (a bicep, for example) was thought to resemble a mouse – with a tendon for a tail – moving beneath the skin.
  • Trivia
    • In ancient Rome, a trivium was an intersection of three roads (tri, "three" + vium, road).
    • When people met at a trivium, what did they tend to do? According to the Romans, they would shoot the breeze and discuss trivialis ("inconsequential things") – which eventually helped give trivia its modern meaning.
  • Bedlam
    • England's first asylum for the mentally ill was The Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem.
    • In the 16th century, Bethlehem was shortened to Bedlam, and its inmates were dubbed "bedlams."
    • By the late 17th century, bedlam was being applied to a scene of wild uproar or confusion, and in the decades that followed visiting the hospital became a source of amusement for some wealthy people.
jan 11 2011 ∞
nov 6 2014 +