/u/whorish_ooze's posts in /r/askhistorians

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How did the term "Chicken" come to mean "Cowardly" in English, esp considering the animal was originally domesticated for the purpose of bloodsport (cockfighting), with its use as food coming later?

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How "real" did some ancient/medieval western people think mythological creatures like Centaurs, Griffons, Sphinxes, Dragons, etc were? Did anyone remark how all other land vertebrates (or "higher animals" or whatever they'd call them) as a rule had 4-limb body plans, which these creatures violated?

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At its peak, how would the British East India Company have sized up against present-day Amazon.com Incorporated?

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Smoking (whether actual combustion, or just vaporization) is a popular route of administration for practically every illicit drug. Has the method ever seen use in proper medical history?

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What was the situation surrounding Parachuting that there are so many things are named for apparenrly having originated for it, despite now primarily having other uses.

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In the 1980s, you had 3 elections in a row where the Democrats won 6, 1, and 10 states, respectively. Watergate helped Carter win the election before that, but they only won 1 state in the election prior to that. Was there any talk of the party dissolving like the Whigs or Federalist Party?

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It seems like we know the history of most words, and can trace their roots back to being derivatives or based off of some much older language, often all the way back to something Proto-Indo-European. Are there any words we know the history of that somebody just made up on their own?

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Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
How did the term "Chicken" come to mean "Cowardly" in English, esp considering the animal was originally domesticated for the purpose of bloodsport (cockfighting), with its use as food coming later?	7
How "real" did some ancient/medieval western people think mythological creatures like Centaurs, Griffons, Sphinxes, Dragons, etc were? Did anyone remark how all other land vertebrates (or "higher animals" or whatever they'd call them) as a rule had 4-limb body plans, which these creatures violated?	7
At its peak, how would the British East India Company have sized up against present-day Amazon.com Incorporated?	2
Smoking (whether actual combustion, or just vaporization) is a popular route of administration for practically every illicit drug. Has the method ever seen use in proper medical history?	1
What was the situation surrounding Parachuting that there are so many things are named for apparenrly having originated for it, despite now primarily having other uses.	1
In the 1980s, you had 3 elections in a row where the Democrats won 6, 1, and 10 states, respectively. Watergate helped Carter win the election before that, but they only won 1 state in the election prior to that. Was there any talk of the party dissolving like the Whigs or Federalist Party?	1
It seems like we know the history of most words, and can trace their roots back to being derivatives or based off of some much older language, often all the way back to something Proto-Indo-European. Are there any words we know the history of that somebody just made up on their own?	0