car
c.1300, "wheeled vehicle," from O.N.Fr. carre, from L. carrum, carrus (pl. carra), originally "two-wheeled Celtic war chariot," from Gaulish karros (cf. Welsh carr "cart, wagon," Breton karr "chariot"), from PIE *krsos, from base *kers- "to run." Extension to "automobile" is 1896. Car bomb first 1972, in reference to Northern Ireland.

Found this and wondered if you knew of any other things that started out as the short version (in this case as car) and was later made longer or latin/greek-ified (in this case car -> automobile) I just thought it was interesting that the common usage came before the 'posh' usage...

p.s. I really like the bold bit...makes me proud to be from the land of the Celts!

Last edited by bexter; 01/13/11 01:34 PM. Reason: p.s.
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