Today a friend in Australia posted this as part of a comment on Facebook, ‘Spat the Dummy’. I had no idea what that meant but I found out from my friend that is literally means for a baby to spit out their pacifier, which is called a ‘dummy’ in Australia. It’s used as a term to mean you are angry and frustrated, done with something. It got me thinking about words and so I thought I would do an alphabet of word origins.
The Purest Album
Why is The Beatles White Album the purest album ever? It’s because of what ‘Album’ originally meant. Here’s a hint, It could be titled ‘The Album Album’.
Here is the explanation from the Dictionary of Word Origins, by Jordan Almond, one of my favorite books. And yes really, that’s the author’s name.
‘A table with a white top on which were kept the names of Roman officials and accounts of public proceedings which was prominently displayed in a public place. The word comes from the Latin albus, meaning “white.” The British adopted the term during the Middle Ages and used it to signify a register or list of persons. From this, “Album” acquired it’s present meaning.’
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- A is for Album
- B is for Beauty
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Drawing by Marty Coleman
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