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stranger
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A simple word, "tote," meaning "carry" or perhaps "pull [something heavy]" but to my surprise the Webster's Second Int'l says "origin unknown." Can anyone tell me its source?
NB: Sample use, from "Ol' Man River" <g>: "Tote that barge, lift that bail, get a little drunk, and you land in jail."
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Carpal Tunnel
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Can anyone tell me its source?
The AHD suggests that it is "Perhaps (via Black West African English) of Bantu origin; akin to Kongo -tota, to pick up, and Swahili -tuta, to pile up, carry." http://www.bartleby.com/61/55/T0285500.htmlSounds good to me.
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Carpal Tunnel
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http://w3.arizona.edu/~ling/hh/322/Handout23.pdf words of African origin ... voodoo, goober, cooter, chigger, gumbo, tote, banjo, okra, ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Welcome aBoard, Iskohn.
Your question brings to mind a related colloquialism, and I'll put it even though I think it's been mentioned before.
In the southern U.S., at least, about a generation ago,
some people would say, for ex., that they "carried" so-and-so to the store, meaning that they took them to the store.
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old hand
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old hand
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"carried" so-and-so to the store, meaning that they took them to the store.Also, many people use the phrase "pick up" as in "I'll pick you up at 8:00" and of course they don't mean it literally. Kind of the same vain as the above! 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Kind of the same vain as the above! Pretty hopeless endeavor, I should say, Beanster!  Darn all you Brit-speakers, anyway: I'm gettin' to where I danged near type such things as endeavour, and think for a second that they look right...[/curmudge]
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stranger
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stranger
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Thank you, thank you, wwh and Faldage! It sounds good, and the African source may explain why Webster's Second Int'l did not pick it up.
As for "picking someone up at 8" -- well, in the days of four-legged transport, you might have to pick up your friend (or at least give him/her a leg up -- another great phrase) to put him/her on your horse!
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old hand
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old hand
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vain ARGH! I knew the correct spelling there, it just apparently chose to remain in my fingers... 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Brings whole new meanings to Carly Simon song "You're so vain."
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Carpal Tunnel
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The word "vain" seems to be two words. "Vain" as in "vanity" is one. But remember the Commandment in the Bible "Though shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain." I could not find it in the German Bible, but I remember having read that the word was "wehen" related to the word "wind" but meaning swearing, cursing, profanity. Perhaps someone more proficient in German can help me with this.
vain
adj.
OFr < L vanus, empty, vain: see WANT
1 having no real value or significance; worthless, empty, idle, hollow, etc. !vain pomp"
2 without force or effect; futile, fruitless, unprofitable, unavailing, etc. !a vain endeavor"
3 having or showing an excessively high regard for one‘s self, looks, possessions, ability, etc.; indulging in or resulting from personal vanity; conceited
4 [Archaic] lacking in sense; foolish
in vain
1 fruitlessly; vainly
2 lightly; profanely; irreverently
vain4ness
n.
SYN.—vain, in this connection, applies to that which has little or no real value, worth, or meaning [vain studies]; idle refers to that which is baseless or worthless because it can never be realized [idle hopes, idle talk]; empty and hollow are used of that which only appears to be genuine, sincere, worthwhile, etc. [empty threats, hollow pleasures]; otiose applies to that which has no real purpose or function and is therefore useless or superfluous [otiose remarks] See also FUTILE
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