Q. What is the meaning of "budget" in the word "fuss-budget"?
A. "Fussbudget" isn't a very old word; it was first noted in a list of U.S. dialect terms from New York state compiled in 1904, and it was also recorded as a New Englandism in the early 1900s. "Budget," on the other hand, goes back to 15th-century England, where it was first a word for a pouch or bundle and for the contents of such a pouch. (The word derives ultimately from Latin "bulga," denoting a leather bag.)
By the 16th century, "budget" had acquired the sense "a supply or stock," as in references to "a budget of contradictions" or "a budget of knowledge." The most common use of this sense was in referring to "a budget of news" such as one might receive in a long newsy letter, or from a long-absent relative. Because of its "news" associations "budget" was eventually employed in the names of newspapers all across both the United States and Great Britain, whereas in the United States the "bag" or "bundle" sense was restricted to the local dialect of Appalachia.
The now common senses of the word relating to financial planning developed in the 18th and 19th centuries.
That said, we don't have any compelling indication that "fussbudget" is directly related to any of the senses of "budget" that were in use in America around the turn of the century. Could a fussbudget be a "budget" - that is, a bundle or a collection - of fuss? Perhaps, but there's no way of telling for sure. It might simply be the case that "budget" was added to "fuss" as much for its sound as anything, an explanation that would also account for such occasional synonyms as "fuss-bucket," "fuss-buddy," "fuss-bug," and "fuss-button."
Q. What is the origin of the term "pink slip" in reference to someone being laid off or fired?
A. In this age of corporate downsizing, the "pink slip" - which is often used to denote termination of a person's employment - has become very common, if not popular. The term "pink slip," used either as a noun (as in, "They gave him the pink slip") or as a verb (as in "They pink-slipped 30 staffers"), pretty clearly has its origin in the color of the paper used for termination notices. The story is that employees whose jobs were being terminated were at one time given the bad news by means of a pink slip of paper, which was inserted in their pay envelopes. Exactly how widespread this practice ever really was is impossible to say, but in any case "pink slip" has become established as part of the informal vocabulary of job loss, along with "can," "ax," "bounce," "sack" and many others.
"Pink slip" is an Americanism. The earliest evidence of its use that has so far been found dates from 1915, when it occurred in Covering Look-in Corner, a baseball novel by Gilbert Patten (1866-1945). Patten was a popular writer of dime novels who wrote under the pseudonym Burt L. Standish. The fact that Patten wrote books intended primarily for boys, whom we may assume were not familiar with business terminology, suggests that "pink slip" was already part of the everyday language of the time when Patten's book was published.
Q. Why doesn't the word "wash" follow the pronunciation of other words ending in "-ash" such as "cash," "dash," and "trash"?
A. "W" is pronounced with the bulk of the tongue in the back of the mouth, and this position affects the pronunciation of a following "a" in many cases. The result is a vowel that is pronounced farther back in the mouth than is the "a" of "cat." It is the vowel of "wasp" rather than that of "clasp," "watch" rather than "batch," "wand" rather than "sand." Even when "r" follows the vowel, the difference is noticeable; contrast "wart" with "cart" and "part" or "warm" with "harm" or "charm."