Oops! Let’s keep it that way

You only say "OK" because of a joke from the 1800s

Published on December 23, 2025

Image: Lucian Alexe

Some words we use daily weren’t born from deliberate invention—they were flukes and accidents. All kinds of typos, mishearings, and bungled translations gave rise to many terms that stuck until today. Find out which 10 words exist only because someone made a mistake—and didn’t fix it.

Quiz

Image: Nguyen Dang Hoang Nhu

In 1791, Richard Daly made a bet that he could create a word in 48 hours. He spread "quiz" through graffiti across town, and soon everyone was talking about the mysterious word.

Initially, it meant an odd fellow or joker before evolving into its modern meaning. Not all etymologists agree with this origin story, but there aren’t many contenders either.

Nylon

Image: Andrew Dawes

Nylon’s name came from an attempt to call it "No-Run" (suggesting stockings wouldn’t tear), but DuPont couldn’t trademark common words, so they tweaked the letters.

Today, it’s one of the most common synthetic fibers in the world.

Spam

Image: Hannes Johnson

The canned meat got its name from a random suggestion during a brainstorming session, possibly short for "spiced ham."

While its origins are a bit fuzzy, the name stuck. Ironically, it later became slang for unwanted email, thanks to a Monty Python skit.

OK

Image: Slavcho Malezan

Newspapers in Boston and New York loved jokey abbreviations. "OK" was one of them, perhaps stemming from a joke misspelling of "all correct" as "oll korrect," a humorous fad in the 1830s.

The word became so popular that it entered multiple languages as a global signal of agreement or approval.

Cab

Image: Clem Onojeghuo

The term "cab" for a taxi came from "cabriolet," a French word for a light horse-drawn carriage, shortened by English speakers who mispronounced it.

By the time motorized taxis arrived, "cab" was already shorthand for a vehicle-for-hire. The name stuck even though the original meaning faded.

Dandelion

Image: Saad Chaudhry

"Dandelion" comes from French **dent de lion**—"lion’s tooth"—but the word was altered in English over time.

As it passed from Old French to Middle English, pronunciation shifted and spelling changed.

Gunk

Image: Towfiqu barbhuiya

Ironically, "gunk" was originally a brand name for a degreasing product, but people used it generically, and the definition morphed over time.

By the mid-20th century, "gunk" meant any unpleasant mess—one of many cases of a brand losing its name to everyday language.

Robot

Image: Emilipothèse

"Robot" entered English via a 1920 Czech play, where the word robota meant forced labor.

The play itself was a critique of mechanization and the ways it can dehumanize people, but the word stuck as a shorthand for any kind of mechanical being.

Galore

Image: Amador Loureiro

"Galore" came from the Gaelic expression go leor, meaning "plenty," but was misread as a single English word.

It entered English in the 17th century via Irish immigrants. Rather than translate it, writers took the phrase at face value.

Groom

Image: Mélanie Villeneuve

"Groom" once meant a boy or servant. Its evolution to mean "bridegroom" was a confusion of roles and job titles in Middle English.

While its roots are related to the Old English word guma (meaning "man"), over time, the term narrowed to describe a man who is getting married.

Intention is everything

Delight your family and friends with colorful insults from days gone by!

Published on December 23, 2025

Image: Camerauthor Photos

Dirty words have been around since forever, but what makes a word "dirty," anyway? It’s not as if certain sounds are inherently offensive—they acquire their meaning from culture, context, and taboo. Let’s look at some examples from both the present and the past. Do you use any of these?

Bobolyne

Image: Claudio Schwarz

In Tudor times, the word bobolyne was used to mock someone as a fool or simpleton. The term likely comes from the Middle English verb bob, meaning "to cheat" or "to deceive." Interestingly, it resembles the Spanish word bobo, which also means "foolish."

Fustilarian

Image: Jon Tyson

Shakespeare gave us the insult fustilarian in Henry IV, Part 2, where Falstaff hurls it during a tirade of colorful name-calling: "You fustilarian! I’ll tickle your catastrophe!" The word adds flair to his dramatic outburst.

Though its exact origin is unclear, fustilarian likely evolved from fustilugs, an old term for a fat, slovenly person.

Smelfungus

Image: stephan hinni

In the 18th century, fellow writers Laurence Sterne and Tobias Smollett met in Italy for a short trip. Sterne was struck by Smollett’s constant criticism of the places they visited.

After the trip, Sterne wrote A Sentimental Journey and created the grumpy character Smelfungus, inspired by Smollett. The name soon became a label for anyone who always complains, especially while traveling.

Damn

Image: Dennis Olsen

The word damn comes from the Latin damnāre, meaning "to condemn" or "to inflict loss," from damnum ("damage, harm"). It passed into Old French as damner and then into Middle English as damnen.

Originally, it carried the full religious weight of condemning someone’s soul to hell, but by the 17th century, it had also become a mild curse in everyday speech, often used for emphasis rather than literal damnation.

Sard

Image: Andre Hunter

Long before the F-bomb, there was sard: a 10th-century Old English word used much like today’s more infamous term. It referred bluntly to sexual intercourse.

The word even appears in an Old English translation of Matthew 5:27, rendered as "ne særde oðres monnes wīf" ("don’t sard another man’s wife") instead of "don’t commit adultery."

Zounderkite

Image: Alex 0101

In Victorian times, calling someone a zounderkite was a sly way to say they were an idiot. It was a clever insult that didn’t sound too harsh, and it could also describe someone clumsy or prone to bungling things—a perfect little word for a polite jab.

Rantallion

Image: Steve Barker

One of the cruder insults from the 18th century, rantallion was slang for a man whose penis was shorter than his scrotum. It was used to mock and humiliate, usually targeting a man’s masculinity in a particularly vivid (and unflattering) way.

As Francis Grose defined it in his 1785 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: "Rantallion. A man whose parts are so small, that they are not worth the trouble of being named."

Bescumber

Image: Dibakar Roy

To bescumber something meant to cover or spray it with feces—a vivid way to show disrespect. The term was often used metaphorically to suggest that something was worthless or beneath notice: after all, if you were willing to bescumber it, it couldn’t be worth much.

Fopdoodle

Image: Slavcho Malezan

Fopdoodle was an old-fashioned way to call someone a foolish nobody—a "dumbass" in vintage form. The word blends fop (a dandy) with doodle (a simpleton), making it a perfect insult for someone all style and no sense.

Crap

Image: Tycho Atsma

While crap doesn’t pack the same punch it once did, its roots are surprisingly earthy, starting in farming.

It comes from Old Dutch krappen ("to pluck off") and Latin crappa ("chaff"). Through Old and Middle French, it became crappe in English, meaning discarded grain or waste.

Numpty

Image: Taha

Numpty is a slang term used to insult someone’s intelligence, similar to calling them an "idiot" or "stupid." It is still occasionally used in Britain and Scotland, often in a lighthearted or gently mocking way.

Jelly-Belly

Image: Shubham Dhage

Jelly-belly was a Victorian insult aimed at the upper class, mocking their tendency to be overweight. At the time, obesity was relatively rare among the general population due to hard physical labor and limited access to food, which made heavier aristocrats stand out.