Just the write word -- etymology for fun and profit

What’s the etymology of ‘a kink in the works?’

How often do you wish there was a word for something? Sometimes, in fact a lot of times, the letters and dingbats that I have punched up on my trusty word processer are dull as pewter. What to do?

One idea is to look for the etymology, the word root and history of the dull word. For example, the etymology of pewter is ‘peltrum,’ Latin for something of uncertain origin. That can make one think of boring, which can lead to ‘ennui,’ which leads to ‘annoying.’ And, yes, sometimes when I have trouble composing, the words are dull to the point of being uncertain, boring, and annoying.  In fact, those can be better words than the ones I'm stuck on.  

Your search results can be priceless. For example, if you have a character who is trying to interfere with someone else by putting a kink in the works, you would consider using the word ‘sabotage.’ Just for fun, look up the origin of the word.

When you go to the root, you learn that it comes from French sabotage, (no surprise there), of which the verb is saboteur, ‘to bungle’ or, more literally, ‘to walk noisily.’ That comes from the French word for wooden shoes, sabot, the kind we associate with Dutch girls and old European farmers. The meaning ‘sabotage’ derives from labor strikers’ throwing of their wooden shoes into the machines. So, the next time I write that someone threw a kink in the works, I’ll say ‘tossed a wooden shoe into the windmill gear.’

And what, I wonder, is the origin of ‘gear……?’