Therefore, words such as "posh" or "poop" are extremely unlikely to have begun life as acronyms. Acronyms, such as NATO or "radar," were virtually unknown before the middle of the 20th century. I'm going to pronounce a little rule about the English language at this point, and I'd like all the school teachers and tour guides out there to listen closely. It used to get so hideously humid out there that I'd often don a wool overcoat and lock myself in the hall closet just to snatch a little relief from the bestial heat. Say, how's the weather in Columbus? I spent 10 years there, and no matter how uncomfortable the summers get here in New York City, I find solace in the fact that at least I'm not in Central Ohio. However, another definition of "poop" is that it is slang for "information." Do you have any insights to shed on this topic? - Mark Nandor, Columbus, OH. Also, in old English the "poop deck" was called the "puppe deck" so perhaps "poop" is not an acronym at all. The gist of it was that the crew would assemble on the "poop deck" to receive their orders for the day. It ran something along the lines of "Personnel Operations." something or other. yeah, I can see it.ĭear Word Detective: In eighth grade, I seem to remember a certain civics teacher of mine giving us an acronym for the word "poop" (as in "poop deck"). Of course, they've also got that really annoying fuzz on them, but Christine Ammer quotes an old Chinese proverb that goes: "Rather one bite of a peach than eat a basketful of apricots." Personally, I prefer the fuzzless nectarine, and oranges give me a stomach ache, but to each his or her own, I suppose. Farrell, in his novel "Young Lonigan," even described Airedales as "peachy dogs."īut why peaches? Why not? They're soft, sweet, and pretty. "Peach" and its derivatives have always been equal opportunity superlatives, applied to both men ("peach of a fellow") and women ("a peachy girl"). The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first appearance of "peachy" in particular to 1926. According to Christine Ammer, who has written a whole book about food metaphors called "Fruitcakes and Couch Potatoes" (Penguin, 1995), the peach has been used as a standard of quality and beauty in English since the mid-1700's. OK, enough with the gnomic fulminations, already. I think we may have found what the folks over at Wired magazine call an "early adopter" here. I am told that there is a new product on the market, a brand of orange juice spiked with a heavy dose of caffeine. I'm sure there are some readers out there who are assuming that I invented this letter in order to liven up an otherwise dull writing day, but let me assure you that I didn't. Now, what about peachy? - Shangrala Elrhea, via the Internet I figure oranges come from Florida and Florida is the Sunshine State and sunshine refers to happiness when applied to a mood, so "Orangy" is a simple way to say one is happy. "Peachy" is considered a good way to be, yet I wonder what exactly that means - to be like a peach? I have kinda gone against this tradition and have taken on the term "Orangy!" When asked how I am, I say "Orangy!" instead of "peachy" since I am not sure what "peachy" means. Dear Word Detective: I was wondering where the word "peachy" came from? People refer to themselves as being "just peachy" when asked how they are.
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