1. Norse warriors dressing in bearskin coats and ferociously attacking the enemy
   Scottish warriors flashing their kilts at the opposing side
2. Vikings who would bare their chests in the dead of winter to show lack of fear
   Women who would get stir crazy while the men were at war

The act of going “berserk,” where a person runs around in a frenzy wrecking their surroundings, hails back to the ancient Norse warriors who were said to dress like a bear, “bjorn,” with a “serkr,” coat. These warriors channeled the power of the bear to attack the enemy ferociously.

1. It refers back to a “jumbo jet.”
   It originally was the name of a very large rock in Australia.
2. “Jumbo” was the name of the London Zoo’s huge elephant.
   “Jumbo” specified a breed of cow known for being unusually large.

In 1882, the word “jumbo” began to be used generally to refer to something unusually large. The reference pointed back to the London Zoo’s enormous elephant, Jumbo. Scholars speculate that this name may have originated from a West African dialect where “jumbo” meant elephant.

1. In the Middle Ages, the sick were placed in jail, or “quara.”
   In Ancient Rome, lepers were sent at least 40 feet, or a quorum, away from the town.
2. In Ancient Greece, those infected with diseases had to do penance, a quarant, to appease the gods.
   During the Black Plague, ships were held in port for 40, or quaranta, days to slow the spread of disease.

The Black Plague, or the Black Death, wiped out nearly 25 million people, almost a third of the European continent’s population. To try to stop the spread of disease, passengers aboard ships in Italian ports would be detained for 40, or quaranta, days before being allowed on the shore.

1. Arabic
   Latin
2. Greek
   Germanic

The word “hazard” comes to English through the Arabic language family, via the Spanish word “azar,” for an “unfortunate card or throw at dice.” The Arabic influence on the Spanish word reveals the profound mixing of Spanish and Arabic culture in the Middle Ages. That we now use the word for taking a chance shows the use of metaphor in language building.

1. A sense of confusion
   A sense of irony
2. A sense of rage
   A sense of ecstasy

The word "haze" does not date back much earlier than the 18th century in England, where the word originally referred to a state of confusion and vagueness. It was then used to refer to an opaque environment. Tellingly, the English language is the only language to have three words — haze, mist, and fog — that differentiate levels of opacity.

1. The Greek belief in a bad alignment of stars
   The Latin understanding of a disturbance in gravitational forces
2. The Italian name for a poisonous plant
   The Roman practice of separating families

The word “disaster,” which we now generally apply to stressful, unfortunate events, originates from the Italian word “disastro,” which literally meant “ill star.” The word came from the Greek understanding that a bad alignment of stars and planets contributed to catastrophic events.

1. Flowing easily, like a river
   Filling up, like a glass
2. A sense of pride
   A sense of hard work

A speaker who is “fluent” in a language shares the original meaning of “flowing freely, like a river,” which the original Latin word contained. This sense of “fluid” and “river” adds texture and imagery to the concept of fluency — that language speakers can adapt and flow without effort in communication.

1. Prometheus and fire
   Narcissus and Echo
2. Odysseus and the Cyclops
   Theseus and the Minotaur

“Clue” used to mean “a ball of yarn.” The sense of the word shifted to mean anything giving an indication or direction in a complex situation, thanks to the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. In the myth, Ariadne gives Theseus a ball of yarn when he is sent into the labyrinth where the Minotaur dwells. He unwinds the yarn as he goes and is able to follow the clue to get out.

1. Companion
   Female human being
2. Part-man
   Sister

In Old English, the word “woman” originally came from a compound of “wif,” woman, and “man,” human being. Oddly, the language joined together a word which already meant a female human to the masculine word for a human being.

1. Old English
   Arabic
2. Old French
   Latin

The word “mermaid” has ancestors in Old English, in “merewif,” which meant water-witch. In Middle English, mermaid took on “maid,” which meant single woman. Early legends of mermaids have negative connotations, where the mermaids usually end up harming those they encounter.

1. Stone foundation
   Lost or confused
2. Shelter or protection
   Doorway

The Old English word that eventually became “bury” was “byrgan,” “to enclose in a grave or tomb.” This word was related to the Proto-Germanic word, “beorgan,” “to shelter or protect.” The ancient word contains the meaning of sheltering the dead from the elements.

1. Lover
   Naïveté
2. Likeness
   Frame

“Amateur,” a word that signals someone who is interested in an art form but is not a practitioner, comes from the Latin “amator” for “lover or friend.” Interestingly, the word, which originally showed love for something, now connotes a lack of expertise.

1. Hair
   Sin
2. Decline
   Choice

“Heresy” generally describes a view that departs from the accepted norms, usually of religious doctrines. The word came from the Greek word “haireses,” which meant choosing for yourself. Taking your own choice and departing from the norms is later seen as problematic in dogmatic settings.

1. That you were kind
   That you were attractive
2. That you were foolish
   That you were brilliant

The word “nice” has morphed dramatically since the Middle Ages. In modern English, the word most nearly means “kind,” but in the 13th century, it carried the meaning of “foolish and ignorant.” The term became more ambiguous before making a shift toward the positive.

1. In — not, nocent — harm
   In — inside, nocent — pure
2. In — inside, nocent — birth
   In — without, nocent — sin

“Innocent,” which usually means the state of being without guilt, is composed of the prefix in — not and the root nocent, from nocentum — harm. So, the original word has more to do with a state of not having done harm rather than being guilt-free in any legal sense.

1. The season gave them a feeling of elation.
   The spice was like a natural dopamine.
2. The ever-present spice made them feel insane.
   Smelling the spice all the time led to an intense hunger.

While today the word “giddy” connotes happiness to the point of being disoriented, it originally focused heavily on the disorientation, meaning “insane, mad, or stupid.” It could even be related to the state of being possessed. Since the 16th century, though, the meaning of happy elation has attached to the word.

1. Theological
   Biological
2. Mythical
   Magical

Even in Old English, the word “hope” has been filled with theological connotation, meaning a sense of confidence in the path of salvation. Only much later, around the 13th century, did the broader application of hope as a “wish” for something come into use.

1. Ostrich egg
   Pottery shard
2. Stone
   Paper

In Ancient Greece, the population used to vote on whether a person should be banished from the community by casting a vote on a piece of broken pottery called an “ostrakon.” If the community agreed that the person should be cast out, the person was then “ostracized.”

1. Protection for archers
   Tying rope through
2. Fastening the gate of the fort
   A window for prisoners

“Loopholes” now provide ways to avoid paying full taxes, but, back in the 13th century, they gave protection to archers who could shoot through the small hole in the fortress, leaving little opportunity for the enemy to shoot back.

1. Heat
   Cold
2. Wind
   Rain

The word “weather” has, from its Old English roots, described the “air, sky, breeze, or storm,” but its Proto-Germanic root, “wedra,” refers to “wind.” This makes sense, as the wind does bring in the changes in weather that humans experience.

1. Sacred
   Plentiful
2. Shining
   Healthy

Since Christianity has had an influence on the language, even in Old English, the word “holy” has meant “sacred or consecrated, set apart.” Before Christianity left this imprint on the language, though, the term had more to do with “health” or wholeness, something which should be left intact.

1. Peasant
   The plaza
2. Held together
   Neighbor

“Common,” which now can mean either something plain or something belonging to all or a group, comes from the Latin roots ko-moin-ni, meaning "held together." The sense of “plain” came in the 14th century and seems connected to the idea of just being one among many.

1. Confuse
   Kill
2. Harm
   Starve

The Old English “wyrre” had the same meaning of “large-scale military conflict” that we associate with war today. Its Germanic ancestor, though, “verran,” meant “to confuse or perplex,” defining war by its effects rather than its actions.

1. It was caused by diseases spread by ticks.
   It was caused by the moon.
2. It was a result of hearing the call of the loon.
   It was the result of eclipses.

The modern word, “lunatic,” which refers to an insane person, derives from the Latin “lunaticus,” meaning “moon-struck.” This word had connotations of insanity from its earliest origins and shows the early belief in an association between madness and moon phases. This connection also exists in Germanic and Greek languages.

1. Upright
   Light
2. Honest
   Alive

In Old English, if you were “cwic,” it wasn’t really a compliment, just a statement that your heart was beating. The modern meaning, though, has been associated with the word since the 12th century, when it took on the meaning of rapid, from the connection with being full of life.

1. Breakfast
   Lunch
2. Dinner (last meal of the day)
   Second breakfast

The word dinner, which some English speakers use to describe the final meal of the day, and others use for the mid-day meal, is related to the Latin “disjejeunare,” to break a fast, or breakfast. By the 13th century, it was used to describe the main meal of the day.

1. The court jester, Dunc
   The reviled Don of Spain
2. Followers of Duns Scotus
   A family in Italy known for their ignorance

The derogatory appellation “dunce” has been used since the Renaissance to put down a person’s ability to think clearly. Originally, though, the meaning had a very specific target — followers of the philosopher Duns Scotus, whose ideas had fallen out of popularity.

1. Your intelligence
   Your attractiveness
2. Your wealth
   Your aptitude for battle

“Favor,” a root of the word favorite, came to mean approval or praise by the 15th century. In the 13th century, though, the earlier use of the word referred to beauty or attraction. This draws a clear connection with the sources of praise and approval.

1. Germanic
   Latin
2. Greek
   West African

“Horse” remains essentially unchanged from the Old English, the Germanic word “hors.” Some scholars believe the word to come from the Proto-Indo-European root, “kers,” for "run," but this is not a certainty.

1. Fear
   Grief
2. Disgust
   Shame

Surprisingly, though the modern inflection of “horror” has to do with intense fear, the earliest meaning, in the 14th century, describes a feeling of “disgust.” From that feeling of shrinking back, the word morphed to mean the experience of dread. The fear elicited by horror has disgust at its root.

1. As someone with overactive self-esteem
   As someone with intense joy
2. As someone high on a mountain
   As someone lost in their thoughts

The world “elation,” which is commonly used to describe an experience of high spirits, originally referred to someone with a heightened sense of themself. The sense of arrogance shifted in the 18th century to mean lifted spirits.

1. To wander in the mind
   To slip into insanity
2. To get lost
   To lose vision

The verb “hallucinate,” which now means to experience something in the senses that is not actually there, derives from the Latin word, “alucinare,” to wander about in the mind, or to dream. It’s the original trip, in other words.

1. Dishes
   Bras
2. Trousers
   Socks

The adjective “ineffable” describes that which cannot be described. In the original Latin, it means “not utterable.” Somehow, in the early 19th century, the word “ineffables” came to be used to describe trousers.

1. A day
   Something held in place
2. A journey
   Something to be determined

“Epoch” has meant a “fixed point in time” since its Greek origins. That original word comes from the Proto-Indo-European word, epi — on and ekhein — hold, or something held in place. The meaning of a period of time came about in the 17th century.

1. Put out the fire
   Get home quickly
2. Make up a story about where you’ve been
   Hide your friends

In the 14th century, the word “curfeu” referred to a signal that told everyone to put out their lights and fires. It literally meant “cover fire.” Lights out! The modern use of the word as a name for putting limits on where someone can be at certain hours dates back to the 19th century.