HALLOWEEN Word Histories

One of my favorite Halloween activities at school was “Halloween Word Histories.” Armed with my beloved American Heritage Dictionary, a high school graduation gift, I let students suggest a character or other word, then we delved into the word’s origin. Often, I was as surprised and delighted as the students. Here are a few abbreviated histories.


BOOGIEMAN

• (also boogyman, boogeyman, bogyman, bogeyman)
• a hobgoblin (which has its own history) or terrifying specter (ditto)
• altered from booger, boggart, related to bogle.
• In turn, BOGLE is from Scottish bogili, from Welsh bygel (ghost) or bwgwl (menace—try to say "bwgwl" five times fast)!
• A nice twist—boogieman is also related to the Cornish word buccaboo (the devil) from which we get “bugaboo.”

POLTERGEIST

• from German poltern ~ “to make noises, rattle, knock”
• from German geist ~ “ghost”
  
  Not like Casper ~ more like his brothers, the Ghostly Trio
  
  

BAT

• variant of middle English bakke
• from Scandinavian, middle Swedish bakka
• deformation of Old Norse (we’re talking Vikings) blaka
  
  The coolest part is that in Old Norse, ledhrblaka meant “leather flapper.” That was shortened in the same way we get prom from promenade.
  
  

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I liked sharing word histories with students because it heightened their awareness of where our English language came from, and in turn helped them understand our place in the history of the world. More about this in upcoming posts. More word histories too!