Etymology Game

Quote: Fleastiff

INote: Those who offer Port Ootbound, Starboard Homeward will be shot.

What is their origination?

Quote: Pacomartin

OED says either pronunciation is acceptable: /kənˈtrəʊlə/ or /kɒmpˈtrəʊlə/

Does the accent go in the first or second syllable on the words "defense" in the following sentence:

"The Secretary fo Defense played in his college team's defense."

Quote: petroglyph

What is their origination?

The "Port Outbound, Starboard Homeward" legend dates to the mid 1950's.

"Jargon" was a word in English from the 1300's, but it originally meant gibberish. Around 1650 the meaning started to refer to specialized language of a profession. Sometimes it referred to the slang of thieves and pickpockets.

However, "argot" is a word with a similar meaning to "jargon", but it specifically refers to the slang of thieves and pickpockets.

The word "posh" showed up in argot to mean "money" around 1830. Gradually it was adopted by the general population in Britain.

====
The etymology of some words is unknown, although theories always circulate. Slang words and vulgar words can be the most difficult to trace as they often were not used in writing.

The simplest and most common words usually come from Old English or Old Norse. However, the bulk of English vocabulary comes from Old French and was adopted after 1066 when the Norman monarchs began to rule.

Quote: Pacomartin

The "Port Outbound, Starboard Homeward" legend dates to the mid 1950's.

Is that the origin for the terms Port and Starboard? As they are used to describe the left and right of a boat?

Quote: petroglyph

Is that the origin for the terms Port and Starboard? As they are used to describe the left and right of a boat?

No, the legend that "posh" is short for "port out, starboard home" is from the 1950's. Acronyms are relatively new inventions, and almost none existed before the 20th century, so any story that an ancient word is an acronym was made up.

The most famous of such stories was "Fornication Under Consent of the King".

The word "starboard" comes from Old English "steorbord", literally "steer-board, side on which a vessel was steered". Old English words are more than a thousand years old.

The word "port" is also from Old English, but since the 16th century has also been used to mean the "left side of a ship" because it was customary to dock with the left side facing the port (harbor).

Quote: Pacomartin

The word "starboard" comes from Old English "steorbord", literally "steer-board, side on which a vessel was steered". Old English words are more than a thousand years old.

The word "port" is also from Old English, but since the 16th century has also been used to mean the "left side of a ship" because it was customary to dock with the left side facing the port (harbor).

Thanks. I have talked with other mariners about the origins, and that is what I had figured for port. Hadn't come up with anything for starboard, I thought maybe something to do with navigation?

Quote: Pacomartin

The most famous of such stories was "Fornication Under Consent of the King".

The story I heard was "Command."

Which, come to think of it, might have made the guy a very popular king ;)

Quote: Nareed

The story I heard was "Command."

There are a couple of variations

"fornication under consent of king"
"for unlawful carnal knowledge"
"S.H.I.T" means "Ship High In Transit."
"wop" means "without passport,"

Early acronyms were abbreviated forms:
SOB is on record only from 1918.
POW for prisoner of war was first attested 1919, but it was not popularized until World War II

Acronyms didn't become a common method of word formation in English until World War II.
Loran, a word loosely based on "long-range navigation" dates from 1940, was among the earliest.
Amgot for Allied Military Government of Occupied Territory dates from 1943 in Sicily.
The word acronym itself wasn't coined until 1943.

"Dictionary of Acronyms, Initialisms and Abbreviations" was published in 1960 and had 12,000 entries.

Quote: Pacomartin

Acronyms didn't become a common method of word formation in English until World War II.
Loran, a word loosely based on "long-range navigation" dates from 1940, was among the earliest.

RADAR: RAdio Detection And Ranging.

That one's a noun today. It hasn't become a verb, but it has spawned imitators like LIDAR (which should be spelled lidar, BTW)

Quote: Nareed

RADAR: RAdio Detection And Ranging.

RADAR spawned SONAR, SOFAR, LOFAR, as well as LIDAR.