Knowing the origin of a word can give you a clearer understanding of the word. For example, the word sabotage means “the intentional destruction of materials, machines, or some process of production.” The meaning of the term becomes clear when you learn that sabotage comes from the French word sabat, meaning “wooden shoe,” and it was coined during the French Revolution when workers sabotaged French factories by throwing their shoes into the machinery.
Looking up the origin of a word also reminds you that language is constantly changing, with old words gaining new meanings and new words being born. The word chauvinist, for example, was never used before 1815. It was coined as a result of the fanatic loyalty of a French soldier, Nicolas Chauvin, to Napoleon. Thus, chauvinism has come to mean blind attachment to something, such as one’s beliefs or, as it is commonly used today, one’s sex. The word boycott is another word that has a relatively recent origin, and it also originated from a person’s name. In the 1880s, during the struggle between British landowners and Irish tenant farmers, a man by the name of Captain Charles Boycott was hired to collect the rent from the farmers on a large estate in County Mayo. The impoverished Irish peasants, however, got together and decided to ignore Captain Boycott by refusing to pay and expelling him. 【題組】46 What is the main idea of this passage?
(A)You can depend exclusively on word origin for the sound definition of a word.
(B)The origin of a word helps you remember it because of the picture it creates.
(C)The origin of a world helps us understand social and historical problems better.
(D)If we know the origin of a word, we can understand the word and the language better.
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