Haggard

What's haggard? An adjective meaning badly dressed, exhausted, and emotionally distressed.  It's synonym is another fine word--gaunt.

And the word--improbably--comes from Old French, through German.  It meant a wild hawk, or raptor.  So how does that translate to an adjective meaning exhausted and depressed?  Your guess is as good as mine.....  

Snigger

"Stop sniggering!" my mother always directed.  So what did she mean?

To snigger is to laugh quietly and, most importantly, disrespectfully.  The word is also the a noun.

And where did it come from?  The dictionary suggests that it's an alteration of another word for the same thing--snicker.  And that word?  "Perhaps imitative"says the dictionary.  But to me, that sounds like a stretch....

Whack, out of

"Things are out of whack," said a friend.  I knew what he meant--the situation was disordered and messy.  And I knew what a whack was--it's a strong blow or strike.  But what a strange word--whack?  Where does it come from?  And why can something be out of whack but not IN whack?

The word can be traced to the 1700's, and comes into English from the Scottish.  That much I know.  But as to the rest--sorry, that's a mystery!

Spark

"The action sparked a massive protest," reads one account in today's news.  Well, what does that mean?

A spark is a tiny flame, the little bits of fire that a welder gives off.  But occasionally, a spark will create a fire--and that's when we say that something "sparked" either a fire, or more metaphorically, a situation.

Like so many of our words, "spark"comes from Middle English--and it's a very common word indeed!

Stumped

"I'm stumped," said a friend in the States, and that got me thinking.  A stump is the remains of something cut off--a tree stump remains when you cut the tree, a stump remains when you amputate an arm or leg.  But where does the term "I'm stumped" come from?

It means to be confused, not to know the answer.  But where does it come from?  Another mystery!  So we're all stumped!

Pander

A news story stated that a person in Wisconsin believes that Governor Walker "panders" to the rich and powerful.
Doesn't sound good--does it?

It's certainly not.  Originally, the word meant to act as a intermediary for a sexual encounter.  Now, the word is used to suggest that someone accedes to and pleases the worst tastes of others.  In short, the person is alleging that Walker will do anything to please the rich.

A strong word indeed!

Stench

The police removed protesters from a park in New York City, because it had a "stench" of urine.  So what does that mean?

A "stench" is a very strong and unpleasant smell.  Like so many of our strong, evocative words, the word "stench" comes from Middle English.  So anything that stinks is--a stench!