Well, some of you may know by now that my dad is from Sardinia, which is an island south of Corsica in the Mediterranean. They are part of Italy but have a very distinct culture, and their language, instead of being some variant of Italian, is actually descended from Latin directly. Most people outside of Sardinia haven't really heard of it, but lately I have been reading some books on it, and I came across at least two words based on Sardinia which I'd love if one of you guys with OED access could look up for me:

1. (Obvious one) Sardines - the fish - Webster's online says the name "may come" from the name of the island. They do fish and eat sardines there. (My dad is crazy about sardines. The man doesn't like fish that doesn't STINK like fish. Phew!*) Any confirmation of the word origins?
2. (This one is really neat) Sardonic - let me quote from Webster's: Sardonic \Sar*don"ic\, a. [F. sardonique, L. sardonius, Gr. ?, ?, perhaps fr. ? to grin like a dog, or from a certain plant of Sardinia, Gr. ?, which was said to screw up the face of the eater.] Forced; unnatural; insincere; hence, derisive, mocking, malignant, or bitterly sarcastic; -- applied only to a laugh, smile, or some facial semblance of gayety. Again, I wonder, if anyone has a better source on that. The book I was reading last night was published in 1975.

Well, I hope those were two neat word origins which you otherwise might not have thought about. Just trying to share a little Sardinian culture with the world.

*in Sardinian, the sound you make for a stinky thing - equivalent to our phew! - is puzzidda. Sounds something like "poo-TZEE-dda" (with a double-d sound).