John Grimond, in The Weekly Australian, reviewing Alistair Cooke's book Letter from America 1946-2004:

Then come the known facts: his curiosity about etymology ("passing the buck" is explained, though Cooke is too coy to go into the origins of "vanilla"), his study of linguistics at Harvard, and his letters to colleagues advising when the adverb "soft" should be used rather than the adverb "softly".

Coy about vanilla? What have we here?

Earlier vainilla, a Spanish diminutive of vaina 'sheath; pod', from Latin vagina 'sheath' which also had specialized senses 'scabbard; pod, husk; vagina'. Possibly from a PIE root for 'split'.

Wow! I had no idea!

Me, either, CW. It gives vanilla ice cream a whole different feeling!

I find etymology of words so interesting. On the chat yesterday, jheem was saying that 'passionate' comes from a Latin word meaning 'suffering.' I would have never guessed that, either. I looked it up in etymology.com after the chat, and sure enough; here is what I found:

"c.1175, "sufferings of Christ on the Cross," from O.Fr. passion, from L.L. passionem (nom. passio) "suffering, enduring," from stem of L. pati "to suffer, endure," from PIE base *pei- "to hurt" (cf. O.E. feond "enemy, devil"). Sense extended to sufferings of martyrs, and suffering generally, by 1225; meaning "strong emotion, desire" is attested from c.1374, from L.L. use of passio to render Gk. pathos. Replaced O.E. þolung (used in glosses to render L. passio), lit. "suffering," from þolian (v.) "to endure." Sense of "sexual love" first attested 1588; that of "strong liking, enthusiasm, predilection" is from 1638. The passion-flower so called from 1633."

Sometimes passion can seem like suffering, don't you think? I mean, emotionally, they can be very close on the spectrum. Maybe that's just me and the folks of 1588.

Kalleh said "Me, either, CW. It gives vanilla ice cream a whole different feeling! Wink"

I was just thinking . . . what does that make vanilla extract?

K., patient comes from the same Latin verb 'to suffer'.

One would think I would have known that, jheem.

In nursing we have begun to call our patients "clients," and I have steadfastly fought it. In chapters or articles I write, I use "patient" and the editors change it to "client." Now that I know the etymology, I will have to think about it. Maybe "client" is better (though, I had now better look up that etymology! )

Client < Latin cliens 'follower, dependent'. From the PIE root *klei- 'to lean'.

Right, I found that too. Aha! It's just as bad, really, as "patient." Nurses don't like the word "patient" because it sounds too dependent. [BTW, the medical profession doesn't seem to care at all.] I really should write a paper on some of this etymology for nurses.

I do recall early on in my career a president of our university making a big deal about our profession being called "nursing." I wish I still had his paper, but he wrote forever on how nursing is the only profession with an 'ing,' and that is why, in his mind, we have never had gotten the respect we deserve.

We reminded him of 'engineering.'

I never thought about the "-ing" thing . . . but I think I know about the respect. I think people simply forget to respect those who serve them. People need help, and we provide it. It just doesn't occur to people to really think about what is involved in that service or to respect it.

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nursing is the only profession with an 'ing,'

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In addition to "engineering", what about "teaching"?

Consulting, writing, painting, sleuthing ...

I suppose for "teaching" they could say "education." "Painting" and "sleuthing," well, they aren't really professions , though now I wish I had gone into "sleuthing!" "Consulting," now, that's not bad. I am not sure about "writing." There's "journalism" of course; still, "writing" is a profession in itself.

That's another question we've had: Is nursing really a profession? Many say no. Then, there have been a lot of articles about nursing being a "practice discipline." When I think about it, linguistics has been very important to nursing.

I was recently at a conference where an executive director of an organization called our organization "disingenuous." I had to get up and explain to everyone why that was wrong. When I came back and reported that to some in our organization, a few people said, "I am glad it wasn't I. I have no idea what that word means!" Strange.

I hope I don't get run out of town with this statement, but don't you think that sometimes people can use the issue of semantics to cloud other more important issues?

don't you think that sometimes people can use the issue of semantics to cloud other more important issues?

Oh, my gosh, yes! In this case that was exactly what the university president was doing. We were asking for some new programs, and he began a dialogue about why our profession had an "ing." I completely agree with you on that, CW.

Every so often, I hear someone or other talk about how Children's Librarians don't get enough respect in The Library World. I hear about how we need to be more professional, we need to be more serious at meetings, we need to stop wearing jean jumpers, etc. I suppose I can understand that point of view . . . but when it comes to professional ability, I would rather show that I'm doing a good job by . . . well, perhaps this sounds snotty, but here goes . . . by doing a good job! Sometimes that involved wearing very casual clothes and playing leap frog on the front lawn (when you have one), and sometimes that involves making silly voices, and sometimes that involves putting on the power suit and attending a meeting with potential investors. I know that in your position, you're probably paid to do some of that kind of thinking where you examine the profession and how it is perceived, and what you can do to improve that. Honestly, though, I would propose that nurses who are good and have a good work ethic get a great deal of respect, and those that don't do not. There will always be people who don't understand what it took to get where you are or underestimate your potential. C'est la vie.

One thing I think the computer world has brought us is the ability to stretch our minds beyond the "power suit = good job, jeans = poor job" mentality. I am sort of riding the edge of the old school and the newer generation when it comes to professional perceptions on this. I think as we move on, we'll find more and more that "dress for success" isn't going to be quite as important as before . . . but maybe I'm wrong.

And while I'm on this rant, to get us back to your comments about "ing" - I think it is a load of hoo-ey! Even if that "ing" on your profession label had any influence on how the public or the professional fields view you, changing your monicker would only exacerbate the problem, don't you think? There's a point at which you just need to concentrate (as an individual and as a professional) on being the person or professional that you want others to think you are, and then after a few years see what happens.

some further thoughts on "-ing" visavis the nursing profession...

Why is it that doctors do not engage in doctoring? And isn't it interesting that doctoring is used often to refer to "fixing" as in "he doctored his resume to make himself seem more important." Or, "The documents had obviously been doctored" (implying falsehood)

Oh, Jo, what a great thought! I also hate it that physicians think they have the ownership of the word "doctor." Supposedly, publicly you aren't to use "doctor" with your title unless you have an MD. That too is a "load of hoo-ey" (I like it, CW!) in my mind. I have a PhD, and I will use it when I think it appropriate. The explanation has always been that if you are somewhere and somebody has a heart attack, the "doctor" will be an MD who can help. Again...hoo-ey! The "doctor" might be a pathologist or radiologist who hasn't practiced with patients in years. I can't speak for others with PhDs, but nurses with PhDs often teach nursing and are quite familiar with emergency situations.

Honestly, though, I would propose that nurses who are good and have a good work ethic get a great deal of respect, and those that don't do not.

You are right about that, CW. Respect does have to be earned. I have seen so many nurses who just see nursing as a job, not a career. We have a lot to do to raise the public's impression of nurses.

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I think as we move on, we'll find more and more that "dress for success" isn't going to be quite as important as before . . . but maybe I'm wrong.

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If you work for Playboy, you can undress for success!

And if you work for Disney, you can Dress Up for success!

An interesting - kinda - analog to the etymology of "vanilla" appears in Partridge's A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English. Under "scrotum," he says, "see "shred." OWWWWWW!!