Channel: Good Mythical More
YouTube Video ID: bwdzwDU8qSc
Episode Number: 3080
Transcript
We're diving into weird word origins Welcome to Good Mythical More. Sometimes you can learn things from us. Like where words come from. Not always. But, but first we need to learn where they come from Learn with us, really Let's learn together about words Yeah Chase, you got a lot of words I got so many words. I'm thinking of at least two right now All right. Well, give us one Okay. The first word that comes to my mind in this moment is nightmare So we're supposed to guess, like- What the origin of nightmare is Eh, like, I, I don't know exactly what we're looking for yet. I'll know after the first one if it's like, are we talking Latin, or, or are you talking, like, a mare is A female horse A female horse, and it- She, she would bring the bad dreams at night So that's what we're talking about, like, the why these words, these words exist Well, let's just guess and then we'll learn I think that's it I don't know if that's true or not So- Yeah, not like full etymology, but yeah So, are we on the right track, though? How it all comes together It involves a horse Uh, you're right about the female part, but not specifically horses So a, a female … What else is a mare? A female … So this isn't about Horse Girl Sadly, no. R- I learned recently that Rhett is obsessed with Horse Girl. He loves some Horse Girl, huh? I run, I mm, I mm, I gallop. What does she say? I mm, I mm, I mm, I gallop She's in that mask all the time. That's all I know I think it's part of who she is Oh, that's not a mask? I think it's her body It's her skin Yeah. That's what I choose to believe. Well- I believe that she is horse. Horse Girl is horse A- apparently, before a mare became- Hey, my barn, my rules, man He's going deep with this. Is that the name of her album? It's the name of a song My Barn, My Rules? Have you heard her collaboration with Wet Leg? I'm surprised that that happened, actually Oh, you didn't think Wet Leg would do it? I didn't think Wet Leg would go, be down with it Wet Leg is coming up. It, I mean, that- Oh, I know Wet Leg is great. It's Horse Girl that I'm questioning Okay. All right I mean, that's just a gimmick, man. Does her mouth move? Does the horse mouth move when she talks? If you put peanut butter in there, yeah. Uh, so if a mare meant, like, a, a woman before it meant a female horse, a nightmare- A, a, a female thing, not, like, a woman specifically We're talking about a banshee here We're talking about, uh, yeah, like, kind of creature, spirit, monster All right. Well, then that's it. Yeah. It's a lady that brought the bad dreams I mean, I'm … So nightmare, it meant something else. It meant a person who was- Because back in the day- … like, a witch … when men had something go wrong at night while they were sleeping, they were like, "This has gotta be a woman's fault" Gotta be a woman's fault You know? That's, that's how they- Right … that's how they arrived at this Mm-hmm. Uh- There's no other way … help us out. So yeah, mare refers specifically to a female spirit or monster- Spirit … which was supposed to settle on and produce a feeling of suffocation in a sleeping person, so kinda like a, like a night terror, how you can get the, um, like, that paralyzed kinda feeling. Paralysis Uh, exactly. And the word traces back to the 12th century, and then over time, it just was, like, a bad dream. Hmm. Interesting. Well, how, how often do you have nightmares? Very, very rarely. I rarely remember my dreams. Um, I did have a nightmare recently, though. Had a couple of nightmares. I think my, like, something about my schedule was off. It takes some sort of outside thing to change for me to start having weird dreams. Yeah, I mean, I'll have a re- dream where there's something unpleasant happening r- relatively often. But I'll have, like, a nightmare, like I am scared out of my mind, like, a couple times a year, but not, not super regularly, but- You wake up, like, panting and Yeah, like , like that kind of thing. Convincing yourself that it's not, that it's not real? Oh, yeah. I wake up and I'm relieved. I'm like, "Oh, man, I'm so glad I woke up." Are you, like, sweating? I don't think so. I like that you said scared out of your mind, and then you just went - … with a tiny little gasp. Jessie, she has this thing where she, she has so many She calls them nightmares. They're really just bad dreams. She'll be like, "Somebody, like, gave me this baby to take care of." And it, a- and it was- Right, that's real. That's a real nightmare … and, and, and then it, like, got out and, like, got into the street. Or, like, I … It is, like, she has dreams where sh- like, she's responsible for something and something goes wrong, or she s- she, she gives somebody something, and she was like A- and I, most of my dreams are great. Just like, oh, this cr- this unexplainable thing happened. But I think you could call those things nightmares if you wanted to. Yeah, I just don't have a lot of … I don't remember my dreams. I don't know. I'm … My recurring nightmare is I'm driving on a highway, and then it's, it's raised like a bridge, and then it just ends and I drive right off of it. Oh. Oh. That, that's a bad feeling. My, mine is just finding snakes in the grass or anywhere. Snakes in the grass? But I haven't had, I haven't had it for a while. But not, not losing a baby somebody told you to take care of? Man, I lose a baby- Babysitter dreams? I lose a baby in a dream, I don't even sweat. Next word. Care about that. Okay, next word is buckaroo. Buckaroo. Um, uh, of course, we've got Buck Owens and his buckaroos. I think that this is a, um, a famous country singer 60s, 70s, a little in the 80s But it's clearly based on- I wonder if- … the, the cowboys … if they invented it, though. If it was, 'cause Buck is Buck Owen's first name. Well, you know- I don't know why, I don't think that- Dude, that would be crazy … that would be kind of crazy. It seems too easy. I think they decided to call them Buckers. I think you're on the right track with Western. Buck, I mean, you get bucked off a horse or a bull. This is so, this is the, these are the cowboys- Western is the right angle cowboys are the ones, these are the specific cowboys that had to break horses. Have you seen the horse breaking TikTok? Speaking of Horse Girl. No. Bring it back to Horse Girl. No, no, no, no, no, no. Are, are they- I'm not gonna make any jokes about who broke her. Are they whispering? You, don't e- yeah. I wa- I'm not making jokes about it. Are they horse whispering? Um, it's somebody who is next to a horse and the horse is like bucking around like crazy and- Yeah … I, there's one where the guy gets kicked in the chest. He's doing a demonstration and he gets like kicked in the chest. I think he has like a vest on or something. I don't know. And then he like kind of like, he's like, "No, no, no. She doesn't, she wants to coexist with me," or something. He doesn't use the word coexist, but- He's whispering her … she wants to be, "She doesn't wanna be like this," is what he said. And then by the end he's got his like head on her head. I, I am so fascinated with horses. Like- Well, get one … because they, yeah, I'll just put one in my, in w- what used to be Lillie's room. No, put them at the Burbank Es- e- uh, uh, Equestrian Center. Well, they need friends. That's an amazing facility. Have you ever been there? Horses can, like- It's huge … they, they can sense things about you- I go every y- every year … and, like, do therapy with you … when they have the Budweiser Clydesdales. Yeah, they have the Budweiser Clydesdales there. I don't care about that. They're in, like, Under Armour that's, like, custom Budweiser Clydesdales stuff. I don't- You can just go and pet them and hang out. Get a horse. They're cute. Have them at- They're huge … have them in Burbank right down the street. So we think this is a cowboy who breaks horses and gets bucked off all the time. They call him a buckaroo. So- And I don't know what it means now … you're on the right track, but, uh, it's a- Oh, they ride kangaroos. Australian. They get bucked off. It's America, not, not, uh, Australia. Um, but specifically it's about kinda, like, the mix- mixing of our culture and the Mexican culture. Does that help you at all? Uh… Aroo. Do you know what cowboy is- So a Mexican cowboy … in Spanish? Uh, mm-mm. It's, uh, vaquero. Vaquero is- Ah, vaquero … is cowboy in Spanish. So it's a vaquero. And so with, like, kind of the, yeah, mingling of the Mexican cowboys. Vaquero, vaquero, vaquero. Vaquero, buckaroo- Buckaroo … becomes buckaroo. Buckaroo. So it's Spank- Just like how, like, gringo is, was, like, a Anglic- Anglicization of, uh, them calling us the Green Coats 'cause that was our military attire. Oh, that's how gringo came about maybe? That's what, yeah, a gringo is specifically, yeah, because, like- Green Coats … our military being in green coats back then. Wow. Chase, you know everything. And cowboy hats are specifically, like, a Mexican, like, formal, uh- Right … Western wear. Right. But what does a buckaroo mean now? Buckaroo, I, I'm talking about the origins. I don't have the what it means now- Yeah, I know what you're talking about … definition. It's like, "Hey, come on, buckaroo." It's just something you say. It's a throwback term for cowboy. Oh, also, I do have it here. I just wasn't looking down. A buckaroo is a cowboy of the Great Basin and California region of the United States. United. The Great Basin. All right, next one. Berserk. Berserk. Oh, these were the… So the berserkers were, I believe that they were- Kamikaze? No, they were back in the- Pilots? Uh- Berserkers are pilots, right? In, like, a- ancient Germany, you've got, like, the barbarian d- no, b- who… The berserkers. They were, like, they would just, like, go nuts and I, and they would, like, drink certain things and make themselves, like, anesthetized to, like, pain, and they would just go berserk and they would… That's how they- In battle … fought in battle on the war. They would go into battle first. They would, like, breach the gates with their own heads. Tell us we're right. Uh, so yeah, berserks come from the Norse word- Norse … berserkr- Okay … which combines the words bear and shirt. And they were warriors that were said to work themselves up into such a frenzy that they, uh, invoked the beast's spirit, the bear spirit. And they did some kind of, they g- they drugged themselves in some way. So it's in- They drank something or something. They would make themselves temporarily, like- Influenced … im- immune to, to pain or something. Interesting. We do that before the show. Bah. We turn into bears. Brr. Berserk. Go berserk. Now, do you wanna hit that first R hard like that? Berserk or bes- berserk? Is it a sherbet situation? I u- yeah, I used to say bes- he's going berserk. Berserk? Berserk. Yeah, I think naturally I'd say berserk. Berserk? Berserk? Berserk. Sherbet. First R is silent, right? Berserk. Berserker. I feel like if, like if you're in Norway or, like, some other Scandinavian, you might say ber- you'd, berserk. But otherwise- But below … it's silent. Berserk. Okay, next is sinister. All right, we know what that means. Also sin. That's, that's very evil. Sin, it's sin sister? No, it's a m- It's when a nun would go rogue … it's a minister, a minister of s- of sin. Hm. A sinister. A devil preacher. Yes. S- a sinful minister. A minister of sin. Are we, are we on the right place? I mean, y- in terms of definition and stuff, yeah, it means, like, wicked and evil, but you're in the wrong place every other way. So it's not related to sin. It's not related to sin. It's actually related to, um- Nister? More like an ordinal direction It's north, south, east or west? More like right and left. So you got a 50/50 shot here. Which one do you think it's related to? Right? Nope. Okay, so left. There you go. What does left have to do with sinister? So it comes from a Latin word meaning on the left side. Can you go from that to wicked and evil? If you're on the left side, if you're a leftist- Sinus liberal. Sinus. Sinus. Think about, uh, how Link is a closet left-handed person. Right. So they, they thought that left-handed was bad. Yeah, exactly. The saying, "If you're left-handed, you owe the devil a day," I always heard that. They think the- That's why I always closeted my left-handedness … left-handed people were particularly wicked or evil, and therefore sinister means sinister. And I think they are. Yeah. They're also creative. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Does that mean I'm evil? And creative. I just think, I just think- Yes, Mikayla, you are creative and evil. I think, I think left-handed people are just a little shifty. Just a little shifty. Well… Can't be trusted. Right. To handle things that are made for most normal people. And you know why? Because I think they're faking it. Left-handed people are faking it. Because? Uh, they're trying to be different. It's so sinister. They're like, "I wanna be interesting. I'm gonna use this other hand." But the belief is that left-handed people are bad. Well, I don't believe that. They owe a, they owe the devil a day, man. I'm telling you. But, but hey, it came from somewhere. Have you ever heard that saying? Except- No. I just knew, I just knew that they thought that left-handed people were bad … it was my mom's, my mom's side of the family. Like Clyde, Papa Clyde would be like- Left-handed people owe the devil a day … owes the devil a day. Owes the devil a day. It's like one day you gotta- Why? … you gotta do whatever the devil- But that makes it seems like the devil gave you, uh, left-handedness. It's like you sold your soul to the devil, and in exchange… He made you left-handed … you, you became more creative or something. And then he's got to, you gotta pay him. You gotta give him a day. We should say what our friend Gar told us, which is w- watch any actor in a movie or a television show. Just notice. Just notice left-handed people in, in entertainment … left-handed or right… If they're left-handed or right-handed. And they'll be, there's more. And you'll see there's a lot of left-handed people on screen in entertainment. Next. So let's stick with handedness and go to dexterity. This is, oh, okay, never watched the series. But I've heard it's great And then another follow-up one? And I heard the follow-up was just a dud. Is that true? Yep. You talking about Dexter's Laboratory? That one's solid. I stand by it. Oh, there's more than one spin-off to Dexter? I think Dexter's Laboratory is another show that we don't know. Wow. Probably for children? Yeah. Okay. I never got into it. Never got into Dexter. But it is great, right? If you're into, like I don't know. I think- If you have a dark sense of humor … somebody in my house got into it 'cause it was on. It was on for a while. Dexterity. Dexterity. That means you can, you can, you can manipulate, you can do things that require a fine motor skills basically. You can do something that's, that's physically challenging, um- Dexter- … based mostly on natural ability is, is, is what I think is implied. Dexter. Dexterity. But where does it come- Dex, like ambidextrous. Dex. Dex is fingers. Uh, oh, I think this has something to do with a Pokédex Right? You're getting closer. Dex in Latin means… That, yeah, you're right on the money. Touch. Um, dexter means something specifically in Latin. It's a person, it's a hand, it's a hand doctor. A dexter is a hand doctor- Mm … in Latin. Um. Finger. Go broader than finger. And- Hand. Uh-huh, and then pick one. Right hand. There you go. So this is- So coming from the same kind of, uh, thought, uh, dexter means on the right side in, in Latin. And, uh, the word is- So- … like, skillfulness with one's hand, 'cause people were right-handed So if you're skillful with your hand, it's basically, this is like s- this comes from being right-handed. Mm-hmm. Wow, people really were hating on the left-handers. It's, uh, so interesting. Those Latin left-handers had it bad. Boy. Next. Nimrod. Oh, yeah. Oh. Our favorite. Nimrod is from the Bible. This is Biblical. This is Biblical. He, I, well, look, he- Nim- It is from the Bible, yeah … Nimrod, was it a person or a place? I think it was a person. It, it was a person. It was a king. And if I remember correctly, he didn't do something that stupid, but for some reason, some, calling somebody a nimrod means that they're an idiot, but I don't think that Nimrod was particularly dumb or presented as dumb in the Bible, right? Right. Right. Right. But I don't know what it is. Nimrod's a cool guy. He just- I think Stevie, that you were a, a hunter like Nimrod in the Old Testament. Uh, and then it, it's kind of, uh, unclear as to how it became a synonym for, like, doofus. It- A hunter? Yeah, the, in the Old Testament, um, Nimrod, I think, is a hunter. Um- But not a king. Not a king. And then, but one theory- What did he hunt? What, what was the, what, what was the, what's the story? I don't remember that. Of Nimrod? Yeah. Well, uh, I've got information here on how it kind, we think it became doofus. Uh, we can look into- Okay … the history while I'm, I'm telling you about it. One theory is that it started out as, like, ironic. Um- Mm. That, yeah, it, like, was kind of the opposite, and then through time changed. Um, though the exact origins of how it first became known in that way are unknown, the usage was at least popularized by Looney Tunes, where Daffy used it to refer to Elmer Fudd, and Bugs Bunny- Oh … uh, used it to refer to Yosemite Sam. Well, okay. S- Yeah … that's it, because he was a hunter. He was hunting. Yeah, we're just not sure if that's, like, the first time or if they, uh, were, like, kind of capitalizing on something that already existed. Yeah, Nimrod. He, like, he's calling him Nimrod because it's a Biblical hunter, and, and he bec- But he, it had to be an insult 'cause it's coming from Bugs Bunny. No, Daffy. From Daffy. And he's, and he, um, and he started using it as an insult with everybody So he would call Elmer Fudd a nimrod 'cause he was a hunter. And- But he was also stupid, so then he called everybody s- Nimrod … and I was wrong. Nimrod is, was also a king. Yes. Nimrod is a great-grandson of Noah, uh- Great-grandson of Noah … was described as a king in the land of Shinar, and that he was a mighty hunter before the Lord. But not a doofus, not a dud. But not a doofus. I love this Daffy Duck sensation. Well, we choose to believe that Daffy Duck is the one who made Nimrod mean idiot. We don't, we're not 100% sure. But, but repeat that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We choose to believe that… What? You want me to repeat it? Daffy Duck- Daffy Duck is the inventor of- … transmuted Nimrod to be an insult Nimrod into being, uh, yeah- Yes … a doofus. Doofus. Next. All right. Let's go with flu. Well, it's influenza, right? Mm-hmm. So, but ma- Well, let's think about this, 'cause is it that influenza, like influence, is it that people- Your influence … who had it would g- give it to other people? So if you're around somebody with the flu, and it's, like, represents one of the first communicable diseases- Mm-hmm. I like this … that's where it come… Is that true? This is smart. You're, you're kind of all over it, but not specifically about how people would influence the, um, eh, it's more about how, like, the influence of the stars, because people believed that stars played a role in making them sick, and so it was, like, this grand influence- Okay that would lead to your influenza. So it's astronomical. Mm-hmm. Astronomical maladies. It was written in the stars that this is why you're sick. Hmm. Believe that. So again, flu, what, the word flu… Go back to the beginning again. So we start with, you go to flu, which takes you to influenza. Oh, and then it's- And then goes to Latin influence of the stars … influentia, which was influence, and then, yeah, it's the influence of the stars into why you got sick. Okay. Okay, and let's do one more Nicotine. Oh. Highly addictive substance in cigarettes, if you don't know. Well, it's really the zens these days, man. Ni- It's just the pouches, the patches. Nico- The little pouches … nicot. It's French. Nico. Uh huh, uh huh. Nico Nico Oui Am I, am I right so far? Oui I am Yes. I thought you took French. Nico So what i- uh, we need a little bit of a hint, I think. What is the, what do the French people … I don't know what Nico means in French. Neither do I, but I know it's a last name. Oh. Pinocchio. Jean Nicot. Jean Nicot was a famous smoker of plants. Maybe the first famous smoker in, in Europe? He's the first famous smoker in Europe? He's the French diplomat credited with bringing tobacco plants to France. And he got those from America. And he got them from 'Merica, and then they needed to call it something, and so he called it nicotine. So topa- Or they named it. Tobacco was called nicotine? Uh, I mean, nicotine is called nicotine, and it's because of The magic stuff in tobacco- Mm-hmm … that makes you addicted. Ah. Huh. Well, you know what? Good for him. No, I don't, nah. I mean- Not good for any- anybody else. Yeah, but if … Okay, if you could either have nothing named after you or just have something- Oh, good for him, yeah. Yeah. Just not good for everybody else. I mean, you know. Not good for you.