Question: How did we come to call the automobile a "car"?Answer: Actually, as you might guess, the word "car" is older by far than "automobile," though it didn't always carry all its modern meanings. As early as the 14th century, "car" meant "a vehicle moving on wheels." Its earliest specific use was "a carriage, cart or chariot," a sense that's now archaic. Centuries later, it began to be used to refer to a vehicle used on a railroad or street railway, as in "freight car." The automobile sense, like the automobile itself, came later still.
Our earliest evidence in print of the word "automobile" is in the Century Dictionary, published in 1889. The dictionary features a long entry at "automobile" but does not enter the synonymous sense of "car" at all, since evidently that use did not yet exist. It wasn't long in following, however. Just seven years later, we find this passage in a publication called Farman's Auto-Cars: "The latter drove with a daring which may have been dangerous to himself, but which never affected his car."
The use of "car" specifically as a synonym of "automobile" seems to have been a natural and perhaps inevitable development from its older sense, "a vehicle on wheels." It may be that, as the title of Farman's Auto-Cars seems to suggest, "auto-car" and the equally common "motor car" served as intermediate stages in the development of the specific sense. In any case, the popularity of the shorter word for the automobile grew quickly. F. Scott Fitzgerald, in his 1925 novel "The Great Gatsby," used "automobile" twice -- and "car" a total of 73 times.
Question: I am always being called a worrywart. What is the origin of this peculiar term?
Answer: The word "worrywart" is defined in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary as "one who is inclined to worry unduly." It has been in use since at least 1936. There may be a connection with a character called "The Worry Wart," a small boy who appeared from time to time from the 1930s on in the newspaper cartoon feature "Out Our Way" by J.R. Williams. It is not clear, however, whether Williams coined the phrase or merely used one already in existence. As is obvious, the word is formed from the combination of "worry" and "wart." The implication seems to be that excessive worrying might just turn you into a wart, an image that may reflect an old notion, still held by some people, that worry or anxiety can cause an outbreak of warts.
Question: As a hairdresser, I have always wanted to know how "bangs" came to have the meaning of hair over the forehead. Can you explain?
Answer: The word "bangs" has been in use since 1878 to describe a fringe of hair worn across the forehead. The word is usually pluralized, although people have been known to speak of "hair cut in a bang" or of someone "tossing her bang aside." This "bang" was most likely shortened from the word "bangtail," meaning "short tail." Apparently, the sight of human hair cut in a fringe over the forehead called to mind the stubby bangtail of a racing horse. Although the connection may no longer be obvious to us when we see this hairstyle, we continue to call the hair "bangs." These days, bangs come in a variety of lengths and styles.
This column was prepared by the editors of Merriam-Webster's "Collegiate Dictionary," Tenth Edition. Send questions to: Merriam-Webster's Wordwatch, P.O. Box 281, 47 Federal St., Springfield, MA 01102. Merriam-Webster Inc. Dist. by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service