Re: most looked-up words

From:    Tristan Mc Leay <conlang@...>
> I imagination 'defenestration' found it's way because it's such a cool
> word, who else would've thought there'd be a word for throwing things
> out of windows?
My question is: was the word actually invited for the most famous
instance of that act in 1618 igniting the Thirty Years' War?  I suppose
one could rather easily discover the truth by looking in the OED, for
English citations at least.  I suppose the word was originally coined
in Latin.

> Also, ten points to anyone who can tell me what a 'kudo' is.
_kudo_ [k_hudo/@u] is a backformation from _kudos_ [k_hudo/@uz](pl.),
which is itself a reanalysis of Greek _kudos_ [ku:dOs] 'glory', which
is usually said to originate in British schoolboy slang.

 =========================================================================
Thomas Wier	       "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
Dept. of Linguistics    because our secret police don't get it right
University of Chicago   half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of
1010 E. 59th Street     Abu Dhabi, to a French reporter.
Chicago, IL 60637

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