Quote:

sanus per aquam

I doubt it. It sounds like folk etymology to me. The dictionaries I looked at give the Belgian placename as the origin. Note the earliest spelling spaw(e) in 17th century citations. Maybe it was from sanus per aquam, id est water.



I am sure this has come up before, but are there ANY reliably confirmed acronym-derived etymologies that predate the 20th century? Spa is just the latest in a list that includes, golf, f*ck, posh, etc. I'd love to know if there are any at all that are genuine.

noho ora mai
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