[Ads-l] "Brouhaha" (in English usage; antedating to 1819)

[Amy West]

On 4/8/21 00:00, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> ate:    Wed, 7 Apr 2021 15:47:28 -0400
> From:    Laurence Horn<laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject: Re: "Brouhaha" (in English usage; antedating to 1819)
>
> Also eggcornized to “brewhaha”, whether because of an assumed connection with breweries or with trouble brewing.  And further inspection (whether or not seeded by our old friend Izzy Cohen) suggests that the etymology, while via French, is ultimately from the Old Testament Hebrew:
>
> Some etymologists think the word is onomatopoeic in origin, but others believe it comes from the Hebrew phrase bārŪkh habbā’, meaning "blessed be he who enters" (Psalms 118:26)'
>
> Or so avers M-W’s WOTD athttps://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brouhaha#learn-more
>
> I tend to share the skepticism Quinion expresses at the site below; he mentions the speculation about Hebrew but not the Psalmist.
>
> LH

Good G-d, has the ghost of Noah Webster risen to create terrible 
etymologies again? This really smacks of his cracked etymologies. I 
think MW should call in an exorcist.

---Amy West

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