Changing words

These sayings don't mean what they used to

Image: Chouaib Maiza

More often than not, we toss around old sayings without giving them a second thought. However, many of them once meant something entirely different than what we are trying to say. Over time, words drift, idioms evolve, and what started as a literal warning becomes a cultural cliche. Let's rewind the dictionary and see how these phrases came to be, and whether their meanings remained intact or not.

Image: Nathan Dumlao

Quoted as gospel by floor managers and entitled customers alike, the original phrase had quite a different meaning. Attributed to the business pioneer Harry Gordon Selfridge, some believe that the saying originally was The customer is always right, in matters of taste. That would translate to: don’t argue if a buyer prefers stripes to solids. It never meant the shopper can insult staff or ignore policy.

Image: Erik Mclean

Master of none, right? That's the phrase as we are used to hearing it, usually accompanied by an eye roll, implying mediocrity. However, the full phrase from the 1600s was jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than master of one. It praised versatility and curiosity, as opposed to obstinate single-mindedness. As time went by and society became ever more specialized, this phrase dropped the last bit and completely changed its meaning.

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Today, happy as a clam just means "content." But the full 19th-century expression was happy as a clam at high tide, which adds a whole new dimension to the phrase. Clams aren't happy all the time, just when the water is high and they are the safest and hardest to dig up. Over time, the survival context vanished, leaving only the joy.

Image: Liv Bruce

The message behind this saying seems to be as clear as day: family always comes first. However, some people sustain that the original phrase went in a completely opposite direction: The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. In the older version, chosen bonds (friendship, camaraderie) run deeper than mere kinship.

Image: Allen Y

In 15th-century England, a good broth was "without bones:" easy to swallow and free of unpleasant surprises. A soup with bones, on the other hand, was full of obstacles.

The meaning of what-you-see-is-what-you-get transparency stuck, and that's why to make no bones about something means to speak candidly about it, without hiding your opinion.

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This phrase most likely comes from boxing, but some theories about its origin are much more macabre. Allegedly, this saying comes from the Victorian fear of being buried alive. Some coffins were fitted with bells connected to a string inside, so that anyone mistakenly entombed could ring for rescue. Even though safety coffins were indeed made during the Victorian era, there is no actual record of this phrase ever being used during that time.

Image: Jana Ohajdova

If you ever found this one confusing, it's because the phrase is missing a few key words that clarify its meaning. The original saying, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, made quite clear that the test of quality lies in experience, not appearance.

Image: Samet Erköseoğlu

This is another one of those that dropped their second half to change meanings entirely. Today, it reads as a cheery nod to shared inspiration, but the original quip went: Great minds think alike, though fools seldom differ. In its original sense, though intelligent people can often arrive at the same conclusions independently, unintelligent people tend to always agree without much thought.

Image: Tijana Drndarski

The common explanation for this phrase dates back to Ancient Greece. Back then, citizens cast their votes using colored beans: clear for yes, dark for no. If someone knocked the jar over before the official count, the results were exposed prematurely. Over the centuries, this quirk of ancient democracy morphed into a metaphor for blabbing or revealing secrets.

Image: engin akyurt

While there are many myths about the origin of this idiom, some of them quite violent, its origin is actually quite pragmatic. Back when precise instruments of measurement weren't as commonplace as they are today, various trades used the thumb's width (about an inch) to roughly measure materials informally

Words with no frontiers

A handful of words barely change across languages. Can you guess them?

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Every now and then, language brings us together. You can be pardoned for not knowing how to order dinner in Finnish or Dutch. But, most likely, any human will understand you if you say "pizza." Something similar would happen if you were trying to stop a "taxi", or if you were offered "chocolate." Can you guess these 15 words that are practically the same across languages?

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Music is the language of the soul, and apparently, of many tongues too. It traces back to the Greek mousikē, meaning "art of the Muses." The Romans borrowed it as musica, and, just like a catchy tune, it spread.

For example, in Italian, it’s still musica, and in Spanish it’s música. In French, musique, in Turkish müzik, and in Japanese ミュージック (myūjikku).

Image: Etienne Martin

This word comes from the Old Italian banca, meaning "bench," because medieval moneylenders did their business on benches in marketplaces. If they failed, their bench was broken—hence bancarotta, or "bankruptcy."

In French, it’s banque, in Spanish banco, in Italian banca, and in German Bank. Even the Dutch stick with bank. A word so universal, you could call it… currency.

Image: Lexi Anderson

The good news is you will have no problem calling a taxi in several countries. How much they’ll charge you, however, will vary.

This word is short for taximeter, from the French taximètre, which itself comes from the Latin taxa (a "charge" or "fee").

In German, it’s Taxi, in Russian такси (taksi), in Indonesian taksi, and in Finnish, taksi. The French, ever stylish, also call it taxi too.

Image: Paolo Nicolello

This one is just as convenient. The word "hotel" comes from the French hôtel, which originally meant a mansion or townhouse, derived from the Latin hospitale (a place for guests).

It seems like the whole world agreed on the global concept of "mi casa es su casa." For example, in Italian, Indonesian, and Spanish, it’s hotel, in Turkish otel.

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The internet —the modern-day agora. Of course, it’s a recent term, one that transported itself until it became a universal word. As a result, the versions for it don’t vary much across the board.

It’s short for "interconnected networks", a term born in the 1970s. In German, it’s Internet, in French internet, in Japanese インターネット (intānetto), and in Finnish, Dutch, and Spanish, for example, it’s still "internet".

Image: Markus Gjengaar

The piano –both the instrument and the soft intensity– has been conquering souls for so many centuries, that many languages agreed to call it the exact same word.

Its full name, pianoforte, comes from Italian, meaning "soft-loud," because mechanically it could perform both, making it more nuanced than the harpsichord, its predecessor.

In Spanish, it’s piano, in French, it’s piano, in Norwegian, it’s _piano_… You get the idea. The Russians say пианино (pianino), but you would still understand it.

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Cleverly, your ticket to the world is called pretty much the same everywhere you travel.

It comes from the French passeport, literally meaning "pass through a port."

Most languages have a combination of "pass" and "port" in them, and some just reduce it to "pass". For example, in Italian, it’s passaporto, in Finnish passi, in Swedish it’s pass, in Indonesian paspor, and in Turkish, pasaport.

Image: Brett Jordan

Many cultures must agree that bananas are nature’s perfect snack. No need to change its fun label. It comes from the Wolof word banaana.

In German, it’s Banane, in French banane, in Japanese バナナ (banana), and in Finnish banaani. And it is exactly banana in endless others, like Spanish, Portuguese, Croatian, and Italian.

Image: Ivan Torres

The pizza —Italy’s gift to the world and the reason we all have a favorite topping. It comes from the Latin pinsa, meaning "flatbread."

In French, it’s pizza, in Turkish pizza, in Russian пицца (pittsa), and it’s piotsa in Gaelic. Different ways to pronounce similar sounds, really.

Image: Rod Flores

The existing word was chosen to name the device invented in the 20th century. It comes from the Latin radius, meaning "ray" or "beam," referring to the waves it receives as signals.

In French, it’s radio, in Japanese ラジオ (rajio), in Finnish radio, and in Turkish radyo. Even in Swahili, it’s redio.

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"Safari" comes from the Arabic safar, meaning "journey," which traveled through Swahili before becoming a global term for wildlife expeditions.

The word gained popularity during the colonial era, when Europeans ventured into Africa to hunt (or, these days, photograph) the "Big Five."

In French, Indonesian, Spanish, Finnish, Hindi, and others, it’s safari. Few languages came up with an alternative term, really.

Image: Rirri

Similarly to the radio, when photographs were invented, it was decided to name them with terms everybody could understand. This was to combine the Greek phōs (light) and graphē (drawing).

The invention of photography in the 19th century revolutionized how we capture memories, and the word itself became a global staple.

In French, it’s photo, in Japanese フォト (foto), in Turkish foto, and in Finnish valokuva. Well, you got us there. But the Finnish can also call it foto.

Image: Nathan Dumlao

It would be easy to ask for coffee everywhere in the world, and we are grateful for that. Imagine having to remember a contrite translation as soon as you wake up!

It comes from the Arabic qahwa, which originally referred to wine but later became associated with the energizing drink. The word traveled through Turkish kahve and Italian caffè before spreading worldwide.

In French and Spanish, it’s café, in Japanese コーヒー (kōhī), in Finnish kahvi, and in Indonesian kopi.

Image: Kier in Sight Archives

They say that one out of ten people don’t like chocolate. That must mean that approximately 90% of the world enjoys it. And they all agree to call it the same name.

It comes from the Nahuatl word xocolātl, which the Aztecs used to describe a bitter drink made from cacao beans. Spanish conquistadors brought it to Europe, where it was sweetened and transformed into the treat we adore today.

In French, it’s chocolat, in Japanese チョコレート (chokorēto), and in Turkish çikolata. Even in Hindi, it’s चॉकलेट (chŏklaṭ).

Image: Jeremy Huang

It’s no wonder, is it? One of the words that remains barely changed across languages has the Latin universus ("whole, entire") as its root.

It’s because, originally, the term was a phrase describing an academic institution: universitas magistrorum et scholarium ("community of masters and scholars").

In French you’d call it université, in Spanish universidad, in Italian università, in German Universität, and similarly on.