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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Boojum tree, & other words stolen from literature #67396 04/26/2002 7:59 PM Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 2,605 Keiva Carpal Tunnel Keiva Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 2,605 During my birthday visit to the conservatory I came across the odd-looking boojum tree, native to isolated areas of Baja California. For most of the year it is leafless and looks like a giant upturned turnip. Pictures can be found at http://helios.bto.ed.ac.uk/bto/desertecology/boojum.htm But our interest is linguistic, not botanic. The tree's name was coined when "plant explorer Godfrey Sykes, who found it in 1922 and said 'It must be a boojum!'. In saying this, he was referring of the strange and mythical creature that the author Lewis Carroll called a boojum in his children's book, The Hunting of the Snark. That raises the question: what other words were "stolen" from literature for a use completely different from what the literary author had in mind? I have one more such word in mind, far more commonly know, and am holding it back as a challenge. Doubtless there are far more. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Boojum tree, & other words stolen from literature #67397 04/27/2002 6:35 AM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,065 Jakarta Bingley Carpal Tunnel Bingley Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,065 Jakarta Those with access to a decent library might care to look up English Today No.24 (October 1990), which has a fascinating article called E Pluribus Boojum by the physicist N. David Mermin on his struggle to get boojum accepted as the standard term for a phenomenon occurring in spherical drops of superfluid helium-3. Bingley Bingley Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: No other stolen from literature #67398 05/11/2002 2:27 AM Joined: Apr 2002 Posts: 200 AphonicRants enthusiast AphonicRants enthusiast Joined: Apr 2002 Posts: 200 No other words stolen from literature? Not one???? A challenge to y'all! Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: No other stolen from literature #67399 05/11/2002 12:07 PM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Stolen? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: No other stolen from literature #67400 05/11/2002 4:17 PM Joined: Apr 2002 Posts: 200 AphonicRants enthusiast AphonicRants enthusiast Joined: Apr 2002 Posts: 200 Fair enough, faldage. Clarifying the question, by repeating it as Keiva posted it: What other words were "stolen" from literature for a use completely different from what the literary author had in mind? I have one more such word in mind, far more commonly know, and am holding it back as a challenge. Doubtless there are far more. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: No other stolen from literature #67401 05/11/2002 5:29 PM Joined: Nov 2000 Posts: 819 Portland,Oregon, USA Geoff old hand Geoff old hand Joined: Nov 2000 Posts: 819 Portland,Oregon, USA Doubtless there are far more. What about Yahoo? Was Jonathan Swift enough to be the first user? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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