Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

Fossil word

Broadly obsolete words that remain in idiomatic use From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Remove ads

A fossil word is a word that is broadly obsolete but remains in use due to its presence in an idiom or phrase.[1][2] An example of a word is 'ado' in 'much ado'. An example of a phrase is 'in point' (relevant), which is found in the phrases 'case in point' (or 'case on point' in the legal context) and 'in point of fact', but is rarely used outside of a legal context.

Remove ads

English-language examples

Summarize
Perspective

"Born fossils"

These words were formed from other languages, by elision, or by mincing of other fixed phrases.

  • caboodle, as in "kit and caboodle" (evolved from "kit and boodle", itself a fixed phrase borrowed as a unit from Dutch kitte en boedel)
  • druthers, as in "if I had my druthers..." (formed by elision from "would rather"[12] and never occurring outside this phrase to begin with)
  • tarnation, as in "what in tarnation...?" (evolved in the context of fixed phrases formed by mincing of previously fixed phrases that include the term "damnation")
  • nother, as in "a whole nother..." (fixed phrase formed by rebracketing another as a nother, then inserting whole for emphasis; almost never occurs outside this phrase)
Remove ads

See also

References

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads