Wordwizard

John, Michael Quinion always does a great job of sorting things out and is, from my experience, a source to be trusted. ______________________________________ World Wide Words by Michael Quinion JUMBO : Many people, especially here in Britain, would immediately think of the famous African elephant o...

Edgar, Both Russ’ and Dale’s interpretations make sense here and maybe the author realized there was a double meaning.

Thanks Leighton Harris. What you said was interesting so thank you, but does that mean there is no difference between profanity and sacrilege? Are they the same thing, taking God's name in vain, or using it in swearing? If they mean the same, why is there two different words for it! Reply from Natho...

William, Interesting supposition, but bogus. The prefix ‘man-’ does derive from Latin ‘manus,’ hand, which does relate to hand in such words as ‘manual,’ ‘manufacture’ ‘manuscript,’ ‘manage,’ and ‘manner.’ Of course ‘man’ can also mean ‘human being’ in such words as ‘mankind’ and ‘woman’ [‘wif,’ wif...