[Lexicog] Pejorative suffixes (more-ish)

[Nick Miller]

I mentioned 'bully' in the sense of hockey as the Czechs used to say (and
still do informally) 'buly' for this. Nowadays they say 'vhazovani' - lit.
'throwing in'. The same thing happens in a scrum basically.

Just thought I'd look in the Cassell Dictionary of Word Histories too (maybe
it's not the most 'academic' etymological dictionary). It gives:
1. 16C Mid-Dutch 'boole' - 'lover'. Originally 'sweetheart', 'darling', then
'good (male) friend, mate'
2. 'tinned beef', from 18C Fr 'boulli'
3. The hockey and Eton scrum thing (it doesn't say that literally!).
No actual mention of kids victimising one another in the playground, though.
I'm inclined to go with a meaning for this sense that is connected with the
animal. Interestingly, Cassell's mentions 'bulldoze' (vb) as a combination
of 'bull' and 'dose', thus 'to coerce with a dose fit for a bull' (not a
combination of 'bull' and 'nose'

Now that I'm on a roll:
Bullion - also from Fr Bouillon, from Lt bullire (boil)

That's all the word fun for me today, I'm afraid. Sorry if I've gone off on
a bit of a tangent.

Nick Miller



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