By Morf Morford, Tacoma Daily Index
Like everyone else, probably, I just assume that things have their names for no particular reason.
It turns out that virtually every object or process has a name for a reason – and that reason usually involves a good story.
Jacuzzi
You might not think of it, but Jacuzzi is a family name.
As World War I began in Italy, Giovanni Jacuzzi fled to America with us family.
His oldest son, Rachele, started designing airplanes like the Jacuzzi J-7 to help with the war effort. In a test flight of his brothers’ planes, Giocondo Jacuzzi and three others crashed near Yosemite. The dreams of an aeronautic empire died with everyone on board that day.
But in 1943, Giovanni’s grandson contracted a terrible case of strep throat – which mutated into a full body case of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. To reduce the swelling, the inventive family constructed a system of “hydrotherapy” – eventually known to the rest of us as the Jacuzzi treatment.
Pilates
Pilates also came out of World War I.
Joseph Pilates was a German immigré living in England as World War I began. He, like more than 20,000 resident Germans, were held in various camps. Confined, this one-time boxer developed a rudimentary workout machine out of (very) basic metal bed frames – and their springs.
Academy
When it comes to place names, what sites or institutions are called can be just as arbitrary.
In 428-427 BC, Plato founded what is considered to be the first university in history on inherited land which was named after a mythological hero of Athens whose name happened to be ‘Ακάδημος.’ which came to be known as Academeia,’ or in English, “Academy.”
Meander
You might think of meandering as being adrift, not having focus or wandering about aimlessly. That makes sense given the word’s origins – a Greek river named Maiandros, noted for its winding, yes meandering, course.
Ghetto
When you hear the word “ghetto” you might think of American urban blight with rampant poverty and crime.
And you’d be wrong.
The first use of the word “ghetto” was in Venice, Italy, in 1516. The city’s Jews were required by law to reside in just a few small blocks. (The ghetto was near what had been the city’s copper foundry, hence the Italian derivation of the word for “casting” and the Venetian term “getto” for “foundry.”)
In short, “ghetto” has a complicated history – so complicated in fact that at least one person has written a full length book on the topic. You can see a review here.
The days of the week
And if you thought those stories were strange, consider the days of the week. We take them for granted, but those familiar names are very strange indeed, even to some, outright pagan in origin.
A day, as we know (at least if we believe that the earth is a sphere) is one full rotation of the earth, approximately 12 hours in the direct light of the sun and about 12 hours in the shadow of the sun’s light.
Each day, in its proper sequence, has a name.
The names for the days of the week were derived from Roman deities, with Saturday as the first day of the week. When the pagan Romans started worshiping the Sun more, the first day of the week became Sunday.
Sunday means the “sun’s day”.
Monday refers to moon’s day.
If you are feeling feisty on Tuesdays, it might because the day was named in honor of the Roman god of war – Mars. Since Marsday obviously did not catch on, a northern war deity’s name was used (either Tiw, Anglo-Saxon or Tyr, Norse).
Wednesday is named in honor of Odin or Wodan, Norse & Anglo-Saxon supreme deities.
Thursday was named after Thor – the Norse god of thunder, lightning, and storms.
Friday got its name from Frigga’s day. Frigg was a Norse goddess of home, marriage, and fertility.
Saturday was originally Saturn’s day. Saturn was an ancient Roman god of fun and feasting. In Spanish and Italian, the name for Saturday refers to “Sabbath” .
And if you thought our names for the days of the week have odd origins, consider the names for our months…
