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You are correct to surmise that the derivation of the phrase is not as simple as the boss having carpet, though some books on etymology do suggest that it is, indeed, that simple. Instead, one has to look at the earlier meaning of carpet. In the medieval Latin of England, the word originally referred simply to a thick cloth (13th century), but by the 14th century it had come to refer specifically to a table cloth. By the 18th century the phrase on the carpet had arisen with carpet being a metaphor for "table", so that on the carpet meant "under consideration or discussion". That sense, with contamination by the "floor covering" meaning of carpet, which had arisen by the mid-15th century, is what gave rise to called on the carpet in the late 19th century U.S. Bosses usually did have offices, sometimes carpeted, while the regular workers did not, so if you were reprimanded by your boss in his office, you were called on the carpet. Some sources suggest that on the carpet (without called) attained the meaning of "reprimanded", deriving from the fact that reprimands were often delivered before the council table that was covered with a carpet, but we could find no record of that meaning existing before the 19th century in the U.S. |
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Odd's etymology is less obvious. English did, in fact, borrow it from Old Norse oddi "indivisible by two" (a sense which still survives in mathematics). The Old Norse word derived ultimately from the Indo-European root *uzdho- "point upwards". How on earth did that evolve into "indivisible by two"? Apparently the "point upwards" sense gradually changed to "pointed vertical object" and then to "triangle" and finally to "three" before the "indivisible by two" sense arose. Today's other meaning, "peculiar", arose in the 16th century from the notion of "the odd one out". |
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From Emily R. Self:
Shakespeare did first create the image of jealousy as a green-eyed monster in his Othello, and tranquil is also attributed to him. He got it by truncating tranquility. Sport was formed as an abbreviated form of disport, but not by Shakespeare. It first appears in a Middle English romance called Ipomadon in about 1440, 150 years before Shakespeare flourished. Disport derives from Anglo Norman desporter "to carry away" or, metaphorically, "to divert, entertain", formed from des- "apart" and porter "carry". The word originally referred to "amusement". It did not gain its modern sense until the 19th century. |
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From Paul-Michael Vincent:
O.K., we'll see what we can do. A human is etymologically "one of the earth". This description originally contrasted humans with the gods of the heavens, who were far removed from people of the earth. So a human is both an "earthling" and "made of earth". The word derives from Latin humanus via Old French humain. The ultimate Latin root was humus "earth". The Old French form suggests that humane is related, and it is, along with humble. The Indo-European root here is *dhghem- "earth". |
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