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tandem [tandem 词源字典]: tandem: [18] Latin tandem meant ‘eventually, at length’. Its use for ‘acting conjointly’ arose from an 18th-century play on words, in which ‘at length’ was jocularly interpreted as ‘lengthwise, in a straight line’, and the word was applied to a ‘carriage drawn by two horses one behind the other in a straight line’. In the 1880s it was transferred to a ‘bicycle with two seats, one behind the other’. Its more general modern use, for ‘acting together’, dates from the early 20th century.
[tandem etymology, tandem origin, 英语词源]
comrade (n.): 1590s, "one who shares the same room," from Middle French camarade (16c.), from Spanish camarada "chamber mate," originally "chamberful," from Latin camera (see camera). In Spanish, a collective noun referring to one's company. In 17c., sometimes jocularly misspelled comrogue. Related: Comradely; comradeship.
cordon (n.): mid-15c., "cord or ribbon worn as an ornament," from Middle French cordon "ribbon," diminutive of Old French corde "cord" (see cord). Sense of "a line of people or things guarding something" is 1758. Original sense preserved in cordon bleu (1727) "the highest distinction," literally "blue ribbon," for the sky-blue ribbon worn by the Knights-grand-cross of the Holy Ghost (highest order of chivalry); extended figuratively to other persons of distinction, especially, jocularly, to a first-rate cook. Cordon sanitaire (1857), from French, a guarded line between infected and uninfected districts.
gizzard (n.): "stomach of a bird," late 14c., from Old French gisier "entrails, giblets (of a bird)" (13c., Modern French gésier), probably from Vulgar Latin *gicerium, dissimilated from Latin gigeria (neuter plural) "cooked entrails of a fowl," a delicacy in ancient Rome, from PIE *yekwr- "liver" (see hepatitis). Parasitic -d added 1500s (perhaps on analogy of -ard words). Later extended to other animals, and, jocularly, to human beings (1660s).
hysterics (n.): 1727, from hysterical. Sometimes in 19c. jocularly folk-etymologized as high-strikes (1838).
Jupiter (n.): c. 1200, "supreme deity of the ancient Romans," from Latin Iupeter, from PIE *dyeu-peter- "god-father" (originally vocative, "the name naturally occurring most frequently in invocations" [Tucker]), from *deiw-os "god" (see Zeus) + peter "father" in the sense of "male head of a household" (see father). Compare Greek Zeu pater, vocative of Zeus pater "Father Zeus;" Sanskrit Dyauspita "heavenly father." The planet name is attested from late 13c. Jupiter Pluvius "Jupiter as dispenser of rain" was used jocularly from 1864.
perineum (n.): "region of the body between the anus and the genital organs" (jocularly called a taint), early 15c., from Medieval Latin perinaeon, Late Latin perineum, from Greek perinaion, perinaios, from peri- "near" (see peri-) + inan "to carry off by evacuation," of unknown origin.
sachem (n.): chief of an American Indian tribe, 1620s, from Narragansett (Algonquian) sachim "chief, ruler," cognate with Abenaki sangman, Delaware sakima, Micmac sakumow, Penobscot sagumo. Applied jocularly to a prominent member of any society from 1680s; specific political use in U.S. is from 1890, from its use as the title of the 12 high officials of the Tammany Society of New York.
shinplaster (n.): also shin-plaster, piece of paper soaked in vinegar and used to treat sore legs, from shin (n.) + plaster (n.). In U.S. history, jocularly or as a term of abuse for "devalued low-denomination paper currency" (1824).
tar (n.2): also Jack Tar, "sailor," 1670s, probably a special use of tar (n.1), which stuff was a staple for waterproofing aboard old ships (sailors also being jocularly called knights of the tarbrush); or possibly a shortened form of tarpaulin, which was recorded as a nickname for a sailor in 1640s, from the tarpaulin garments they wore.
wattle (n.2): "fleshy appendage below the neck of certain birds," 1510s (extended jocularly to human beings, 1560s), of uncertain origin and of doubtful relationship to wattle (n.1). Related: Wattled.