Why is it called that? 25 words with unexpected and bizarre origins

Writer: Helena Bergström

Why is it called that? I love thinking about different words and their origins, and after all these years together, I've got Peter to join me in my word games. He also wonders... why is it actually called that?

Why do people say this?

Once you start thinking about words and their origins, you can't stop. The game is endless. There are countless words and expressions, and each one has its own exciting story to tell. Here is a small selection of words with exciting origins...

1. Mack

Mack is an acronym of the first letters of the surnames Mathiasson, Andersson, Collin and Key, who together formed the Mackmeter company in Sweden in 1916. The name Mack was engraved on the pumps, and thus the word became synonymous with petrol station.

2. Hot dog

When hot dogs first arrived in the United States in the 19th century, they were called ”Dachshund sausages”. People began joking that there was real dog meat in the sausages – hence the name hot dog.

3. Biscuits

The word kex simply comes from the English word ”cakes”, which in turn comes from the Old Norse word ”kaka”. Then you can discuss whether the word should be pronounced with a hard k or a tje sound at the beginning? It's an eternal linguistic debate ...

4. Spam

Spam, which usually describes junk mail, comes from the product SPAM, where the word was created to describe ”spiced ham”, i.e. a canned ham from Hormel. The word later became synonymous with junk mail thanks to a Monty Python sketch, where the word was repeated until everyone got tired of it – just like with spam emails.

5. Jeep

During World War II, military off-road vehicles were called G.P. (General Purpose vehicles). When the abbreviation was pronounced quickly, it sounded like ”jeep”.

6. Fire blanket

The word brasklapp comes from Bishop Hans Brask, who lived in the 16th century. He signed a document that he did not really agree with, so he added a note saying, ”I am forced and compelled to do this.” And so the word brasklapp was born...

7. Robot

The word ”robot” was coined by Czech author Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R. (1920). The word comes from the Czech word ”robota,” which can be translated as "day's work" or "slave labour.".

8. Sandwich

The word ”smörgås” comes from the fact that the lumps of butter that form when butter is churned float to the surface of the milk and move around, much like geese. Initially, it was these lumps that were called ”smörgås”. Over time, people went from saying ”slice of bread with smörgås” to just saying smörgås.

9. Sandwich

The sandwich with several slices of bread is named after John Montgau, Earl of Sandwich, who did not want to leave the gaming table. According to legend, he asked for his meat to be served between two slices of bread so that he could continue playing with one hand.

10. Bluetooth

Bluetooth is simply named after the Viking king Harald Bluetooth, who united the tribes of Denmark in the 10th century, because the technology unites different digital devices. The name was chosen by Jim Kardach from Intel, who was inspired when he read about the king in a book. The Bluetooth logo is a combination of the king's runes!

11. Step by step

The expression ”pö om pö” sounds like proper English and means ”little by little”. In fact, the expression was borrowed from French in the 19th century and comes from the French ”peu à peu” (gradually).

12. Bikini

The two-piece swimsuit is named after the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, where the United States tested atomic bombs in the same year that the garment was launched (1946). Fashion designer Louis Réard chose the name to emphasise the explosive effect he believed the new, revealing swimsuit would have...

13. Sauna

In Finnish, and also in English, it is called sauna. In Sweden, we use the word bastu, which comes from the word badstuga. It was shortened slightly to simply bastu.

14. Paparazzi

The word paparazzi comes from an Italian film, La Dolce Vita (1960), in which an intrusive photographer was called Paparazzo. The name stuck as a symbol for intrusive photographers.

15. Google

Google was originally a spelling mistake. The idea was to use the name Googol, which is a number written as a one followed by one hundred zeros. But someone made a mistake, and the founders decided to keep the new spelling.

16. Whisky

The word whisky comes from the Celtic ”uisge beatha”, which means ”water of life”. This term was used to describe the distilled spirit, in the same way as the French eau de vie and the Nordic aquavit also means ”water of life” from the Latin aqua vitae.If you say ”uisge beatha” a bit quickly, it sounds a bit like... whisky.

17. Quarantine

The word quarantine comes from the Italian quaranta giorni, which means ”forty days”. This was how long ships were forced to wait during the plague.

18. Ketchup

The word ketchup originally comes from the Chinese ke-tsiap, which is a type of fermented fish sauce. The sauce spread to Malaysia and Indonesia, where the Malay word became ”kĕtjap”. European traders brought the sauce to Europe, and the word eventually evolved into ”ketchup”. And even later, the tomato-based sauce we are familiar with today was developed...

19. Punch

Punch came to Sweden via the East India Company, and it is believed that the name comes from the Hindi word ”panch”, which means ”five”. The five original ingredients in punch are arrack, water, sugar, citrus and tea. An alternative theory is that the name comes from the English word for wooden barrel, puncheons, which was used to transport the beverage.

20. Helicopter

The word helicopter came into Swedish via French, but actually has Greek origins. Helix means spiral in Greek and pteron means wing. In other words, a helicopter is a ”spiral wing”. Not so silly!

21. Coffee break

The word fika comes from the word kaffi, which is a dialectal variant of coffee. The word originated as a kind of ”backslang” (when you deliberately reverse the letters) among students in the early 1900s.

22. That

The word ”dass” comes from German. the house or the cottage (the house/the little house), which was a way of describing the house where one relieved oneself. By omitting the word ”house”, only the German definite article, ”das”, was retained, which was then Swedishised to ”dass”.

23. Troubadour

The word ”troubadour” comes from the Old French and Occitan words for ”one who finds” or ”one who invents,” referring to the medieval poets and musicians who created and performed poems and songs.

24. Pyjamas

The word ”pyjamas” comes from Hindi/Urdu, which in turn borrowed it from Persian. The word means ”leg clothing” or ”garments for the legs” and entered the English language via Swedish. Originally, it referred to loose-fitting trousers worn in warm climates, and later came to mean a type of nightwear.

25. Scandal

The word ”scandal” comes from the Greek word ”skándalon,” which means snare or trap. Initially, it referred to something one stumbled over, but over time it came to mean a moral trap and scandal.

READ MORE: 25 Swedish sayings and expressions – why we say what we say

Do you have any more examples of words with unexpected origins?

Do you have any other examples of words with unexpected origins? Please share them with us!