Trimming our vocabulary

Americans say 'soccer' instead of 'football' for this reason

Have you ever wondered why we say ‘fab’ for fabulous, or ‘uni’ for university? A natural characteristic of most languages is that speakers, even if they don't realize it, try to say the most amount of things with the least amount of words possible. This can be done in many ways, including by shortening the word to its smallest form. While in some cases the short and the long versions are used at the same time, many terms that we don’t think twice about actually have a longer version. Keep on reading to discover the original form of these everyday words.

Public establishments dedicated to selling alcohol are as old as time and have gone by several names over the centuries. In English, taverns, alehouses, and inns existed way before the word ‘pub’ was in use. Where did it come from, then? In the 17th century, the term ‘public house’ began to be used to distinguish these establishments from private houses and residences, and the shortened version of ‘pub’ was registered for the first time in 1859.

Buses weren't always machines. The first recorded bus dates back to 1823 in Nantes, France, where a horse-drawn carriage service transported passengers to the public baths. The service was called Omnes Omnibus, Latin for ‘everything for everyone’. The omnibus part remained and was adopted into English to refer to public transport, later shortened to ‘bus’.

While we still use the full word ‘refrigerator’ in English, ‘fridge’ is now a word in its own right. But how did it get to that form? As modern refrigerators became increasingly more common in the 20th century, people started shortening their name to ‘frig’, but this form sounded harsher than the original. To capture the sound of the g in ‘refrigerator’, writers started writing the word as ‘fridge’, mirroring the spelling of words like ‘bridge’ or ‘lodge’.

Many think that Americans use the term soccer because a sport named football was already popular in the U.S., and they are only half right. Originally, there were several sports named football: Rugby football (now, just rugby), Association football (soccer), and Gridiron football (football). In the late 19th century, English students started shortening Association football to ‘assoc’ and then to ‘soccer’, a name that became popular and coexisted with the term ‘football’ for a long time. While ultimately ‘football’ became the more widespread term for the sport, in America, due to the popularity of Gridiron football, the name ‘soccer’ remained.

The word ‘perk’ has many meanings, but not all are a shortened version of another word. The word ‘perquisite’ comes from the Latin perquisitum, meaning ‘something carefully sought or acquired’. In the 19th century, it was shortened to ‘perk’, which has now evolved to mean a benefit or an extra, usually related to a job or salary.

While ‘mistress’ often has a negative connotation in modern English, this was not always the case. Originally, ‘mistress’ was the feminine version of ‘master’, as in ‘the head of a household’. Around the 1600s, it was shortened to ‘miss’, and both ‘mistress’ and ‘miss’ were used for the lady of the house. Eventually, ‘miss’ came to be used for young, unmarried ladies, while ‘mistress’ evolved into ‘Mrs’ (pronounced missus).

Have you ever heard the word ‘acute’ used to describe a sharp pain or a sharp-witted person? Believe it or not, it is related to the word we use to talk about charming and pretty things and people. While acute —and its shortened version, ‘cute’— originally meant ‘perceptive’ or ‘sharp’, it became a slang word for clever, fetching, or pretty things in the 19th century. Eventually, the meaning broadened to include physical appearances.

Middle English had many gender neutral terms to refer to people —think ‘child’ or ‘sibling’, for example— and ‘girl’ was one of these terms. Originally gyrle or girle, it was used to describe any small child, regardless of their sex, and adjectives were added to specify if it was male or female. Around the 15th and 16th centuries, the meaning shifted to refer to young females, while also becoming an affectionate term for women of all ages.

‘Taxi’ and ‘cab’ are used interchangeably for a vehicle with a hired driver, and many people have at least once heard the term ‘taxicab’, now practically obsolete. But what if we tell you that taxicab is not the original term either? A taximeter (a mix of taxa, ‘charge’, and metron, ‘measure’) was an instrument used to measure and determine a fare, while a cabriolet was a light, horse-drawn carriage. The first automatic taximeter was invented in Germany in 1891, and attached to horse carriages and later to automobiles. These vehicles were initially called taximeter cabs, then taxicabs, and ultimately just taxis or cabs.

Ask any high school student, and most of them will agree that prom is a major rite of passage of adolescence. This tradition is derived from high society formal dances that gave young people the opportunity to practice their social skills and make acquaintances. But what does ‘prom’ mean? The original term is ‘promenade’, a word you may recognize in relation to walkways and avenues, a French term used for a leisurely walk or stroll. In high society events, ‘promenade’ was used for the initial formal parade of the guests, which gave them the chance to show off their attire. Eventually, it came to refer to the event itself.

TALES OF THE ORDINARY

The Extraordinary Stories Behind These 10 Everyday Inventions

Image: Museums Victoria

Sometimes it’s easy to forget how behind every commonplace object there is an interesting story. Each of these invention stories stems from the need to solve a problem or make our lives a little easier.

Delve with us into the fascinating history of these 10 commonplace items that, in one way or another, have shaped our modern world.

Image: Antoine Dautry

Where would we be without ballpoint pens? Still leaking ink everywhere, I assume. In 1938, Hungarian journalist Laszlo Biro patented the first successful ballpoint pen, inspired by the quick-drying ink used in newspaper printing. This revolutionary writing instrument provided a smoother, more reliable alternative to fountain pens, making on-the-go writing easier and more accessible.

Image: Nina Cuk

Zippers are one of those inventions that are absolutely everywhere, and our lives would certainly be more complicated without them. Imagine buttoning up a camping tent!

Initially patented in 1851 by Elias Howe, the zipper struggled to gain traction until Swedish-American electrical engineer Gideon Sundbäck improved upon the design in the early 20th century. Once intended as a fastening device for shoes, the zipper's versatility soon led to its widespread use in clothing, luggage, and beyond.

Image: Diana Polekhina

Who knew there was a love story behind the ubiquitous Band-Aid? In 1920, a Johnson & Johnson employee called Earle Dickson invented the Band-Aid as a solution to his wife's frequent kitchen injuries.

Combining adhesive tape with sterile gauze, Dickson created a convenient and effective way to dress small wounds. During World War II, millions were shipped overseas, popularizing the product everywhere and becoming the household staple we know today.

Image: Jacek Halicki, CC BY-SA 4.0

Safety pins are a straightforward invention - a clothespin that protects its user from the sharp point. Yet, this commonplace fabric fastener did not exist before 1849, when it was patented by American mechanic Walter Hunt. Hunt didn’t think much of his invention and sold the patent to W. R. Grace and Company for only 400 dollars, which made millions off his design.

Image: Tyler Nix

German entrepreneur Melitta Bentz revolutionized the coffee industry in 1908 with her patented invention: the disposable paper coffee filter.

Tired of finding grounds in her coffee as well as of the bitter taste that most brewing methods of her time produced due to over-brewing, Bentz began experimenting with conical blotting paper filters. This led to her creating the simple yet effective filtration method that remains a staple of coffee preparation today.

Image: Andres Siimon

Originally crafted from natural rubber, the first rubber bands emerged in the mid-19th century as a solution for securing bundles of papers and banknotes. Although many others had previously worked on the idea, British businessman Stephen Perry is often recognized as the true inventor of rubber bands. The first commercially successful version of the product was made simply by slicing hollow tubes of vulcanized rubber, almost the same process that is still used today.

Image: Alex Padurariu

Before toothbrushes, people used just about anything they could find to maintain their oral hygiene. Twigs, feathers, animal hair, and even porcupine quills have been used in the quest for a shining smile.

But it wasn’t until the 1930s that the first practical nylon toothbrushes were invented, by American giant DuPont. Surprisingly, the first electric toothbrush was invented only twenty years later, by a Swiss company in 1954.

Image: Mitchell Luo

After watching auto-engineers try different methods to achieve smooth painting on two-color cars, 3M engineer Richard Drew designed the first masking tape in 1925, later developing the product into the clear adhesive tape we know today.

With its transparent and moisture-resistant design, the Scotch tape revolutionized the world of adhesive products, finding applications in every field, from house repairs to industrial uses.

Image: Rob Wicks

While their exact origin is debated, the widespread use of self-igniting matches dates back to the early 19th century. However, the first designs utilized highly dangerous white phosphorus, causing dangerous intoxications in both factory workers and users.

After a series of worker strikes and international bans, the industry switched to red phosphorus, a much safer alternative to produce and manipulate.

Image: Carlos Lindner

While the concept of cooling indoor air dates back to ancient civilizations - and even Benjamin Franklin experimented with various cooling methods - modern air conditioning as we know it was pioneered by Willis Carrier in 1902.

Originally designed to control humidity in a Brooklyn printing plant, Carrier's invention revolutionized not only industrial processes but also comfort in homes, businesses, and even hospitals.