WEBVTT

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hidden farts, silent but deadly. The word fart,

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considered by many folks to be vulgar, is here

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to stay, as is the reality behind it. The word

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is classified as onomatopoeia, which means the

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sound of the word reflects what it is defining.

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Every language that I know has a word for it.

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They all tend to imitate what they hear, as the

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sound, a sort of a... I know that some people

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consider etymology the second most dismal science,

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but every once in a while a fascinating revelation

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bursts forth. This happened to me recently as

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I looked up a word. The word was the seemingly

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innocent word, Partridge. Now, Partridge is our

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members of the present family. They eat insects,

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berries, seeds, They nest on the ground. They

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weigh less than a pound, but they can run very

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quickly, which saves them from many a predator.

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But then came the shocker. The name Partridge

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derived from a Greek verb, which from time immemorial

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has meant to fart. It's not so much this particular

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bird is prone to fatulence. It's just that the

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noise that it makes as it flies away reminded

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some people as a fart. That has to be some takeoff.

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Well intrigued, I decided to do a wildcard search.

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on etymologies containing break wind, fart, flatulence.

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That's when a second surprise erupted. The German

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district of Westphalia was known for its pumpernickel,

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a coarse black bread not always fully appreciated.

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In fact, an early modern German pumper meant

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fart as the Oxford English Dictionary delicately

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puts it, this type of bread was probably so -called

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either on account of its being difficult to digest

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and causing flatulence, or in a more general

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illusion to its hardness and poor quality. Hidden

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farts also lurk in the word feisty, aggressive,

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and touchy, like au perdon, a fungus puffball,

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translated as Wolf's fart. Oh no, poor Don. A

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genus of thistles. Translated as donkey fart.

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Pedicule. A louse. Translated as small fart.

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And poop. From a German verb meaning to fart.

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Now I can't wait to have a partridge sandwich

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on Pumpernickel. Pass the bino, please.