[Ads-l] most important unresolved English etymologies?

[Jonathan Lighter]

I vote "gizmo."

And "bad."

And "dog."

JL

On Fri, Feb 6, 2026 at 4:17 PM Stephen Goranson <
00001dd3d6fc15d3-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> Pop quiz [is that one of them?]
> Long ago I asked a similar question, and one of the then more skilled
> responders, Doug Wilson, advised to pay attention to the list discussions.
> Given that my memory is limited, and (boring story) I lost some old
> emails, and the available archives may not be complete or accurately
> searchable, what say ye, if you care to venture, are a few of the chief
> remaining English word origin puzzles?
>
> Stephen G
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org