First thing foremost, I learned a lot from this class. One thing I would take from this class are the morphemes we learned in class, and how to apply it in everyday life, in our personal and professional lives. There are several words in which I did not know even had a word for, one for example is defenestrate. Another thing, which I have take for granted until I have taken this course, is how NEIU offers the Oxford English Dictionary, and how I have not used it. It can be very efficient and fascinating when you come across where words have actually come from, and how to use the OED.
I was born in 1990, there are a few interesting words that were published in the OED that year. Some include Boyf (shortened for Boyfriend), World Wide Web (the internet today as we know it), Drum and Bass (a popular form of Electronic music) and star 69 (the infamous call return service) but, one word that I was surprised in which was first introduced in the OED was props. When giving someone props, you are giving them respect; approval, compliments and esteem. It is slang originated in African-American usage. It first appeared in the Chicago Tribune in the July 2/4 issue in 1990 stating: “I was one of the first female rappers, but I’ve always gotten my props.” Props is the shortened version of Proper.
I learned many new words from taking this course. One word in which surprised that even had a word is defenestration, which is the act of throwing out the window. It’s etymology comes from the Latin word fenestra which is a windrow and the prefix de- meaning to throw away. It first appeared in 1620 under Henry Wotton’s Reliquiæ Wottonianæ in the line “A man saued at the time of the defenestration.”
One word that interests me, and actually shows how culture can develop a language is the word Google, and when people use it as a verb. For example, if you don’t know the answer to a certain topic, most people would use the internet. The OED’s definition is “to use the Google search engine to find information on the Internet.” It’s etymology is from the company Google, the search engine, which is an alteration of the word Googol, which is equivalent to ten raised to the hundredth power. So basically, a one with a hundred zeros afterwards.