quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- preferable (adj.)[preferable 词源字典]
- 1640s, from or on model of French préférable, from préfér (see prefer). OED notes preferrable is better English but has not prevailed. Related: Preferably.[preferable etymology, preferable origin, 英语词源]
- receptionist (n.)
- "person hired to receive clients in an office," 1900, from reception + -ist.
Originally in photography studios.
Let me not forget the receptionist -- generally and preferably, a woman of refined and gentle manners, well informed and specially gifted in handling people of varied dispositions. A woman especially who knows how to handle other women, and who can make herself beloved by the children who may visit the studio. A woman, also, who in a thoroughly suave and dignified way, knows just how to handle the young man of the period so that the photographer may be glad to have his business. What a power the receptionist is when properly chosen and trained. It is not too much to say that she can both make and destroy a business, if she has the amount of discretionary power given to her in some galleries. [John A. Tennant, "Business Methods Applied in Photography," "Wilson's Photographic Magazine," October 1900]
Earlier as an adjective in theology and law (1867). - skateboard
- 1964, noun and verb, from skate (v.) on model of surfboard. The phenomenon began c. 1963 in southern California and was nationwide the following summer.
Skateboarding requires only a tapered piece of wood flexibly mounted on roller-skate wheels and a stretch of pavement -- preferably downhill and away from traffic. ["Life," June 5, 1964]