Whats a "artard" and where does this word comes from?
828634
yes it does mean retard.\n\nit is also computer nerd talk for retard.\n\n\nput the word in your search engine and it will show you many more definitions.
572382
It's a bastardization (and yes, that's a real word) of the French farewell "à toute à l'heure" (meaning basically "see you soon") which is pronounced "a too ta leur".\n\nApparently it was popularized by British who had difficulty with the pronunciation of the French expression and shortened it to "Toodles," which was much easier for them to pronounce.
321259
The phrase in this form started out in the 1950s as an offshoot of "excuse my French."  This is a result of racial stereotyping - Anglo-Saxons of the late 19th century blamed the French for anything remotely dirty.  The belief started in the mid 19th century and held that was France sex-obsessed and pornographic.
289373
ARS = Artist Skilled\nMAgicana = Master, Keeper of Magic\nArcanum = Mysterious\n\nSkilled Master of Mysteries
721239
From the Online Etymology Dictionairy:\n\nhttp://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=gander\n\ngander  \nO.E. gandra "male goose," from P.Gmc. *ganez- (cf. Du. gander, M.L.G. ganre), perhaps originally the name of some other water fowl (cf. Lith. gandras "stork"). The slang sense of "take a long look" is first recorded 1887, from the notion of craning one's neck like a goose.
645298
here u go:\nhttp://www.askart.com/AskART/artist.aspx?artist=72042\n\nhope this helps!
105784
Derived from the Old English element ead "rich, blessed" combined with gar "spear". This was the name of a Saxon king of Wessex who was also a saint. The name was rarely used after the Norman conquest. Famous bearers include author and poet Edgar Allan Poe and the French impressionist painter Edgar Degas.
184232
"HAM. Actors prefer to think that the word derives from the old theatrical use of ham fat to remove blackface makeup - actors were thus called hamfatters, or hams. Many scholars lean to this theory, but 'ham' in the sense of an amateur actor or a 10th rate actor who outrageously overplays his scenes has enough folk etymologies to make a one-act play. Since none really seems capable of absolute proof, I'll simply list three: 1) Ham derives from the Cockney slang 'hamateur,' for 'amateur actor.' (Unlikely, as the term 'ham' in this sense is American from about 1880.) 2) The word structure of 'amateur' itself suggested 'ham.' (A good possibility, but why did it wait so long to suggest itself?) 3) It comes from the role of 'Hamlet,' which actors frequently misperformed. (Another good possibility, but, if so, 'ham' should have been with us since Shakespeare's time.) 'Ham' for one of the rear quarters of a hog, or its meat, derives from Old English 'hamm' for the bend of the knee."
794696
It's 'soi-disant'.  It's french, and basically translates to 'self-saying'.  It means so-called or self-styled.
555912
Anorak - No - not an article of clothing (though it means that too), an anorak is another word for a nerd or a square. Apparently originated from the anoraks that were worn by trainspotters whatever the weather. If you are described as being a bit of an anorak, beware! \nBarmaid - A female bartender in a pub is called the barmaid. \n\nBarman - The bartender in a pub is called the barman. \n\nBarrister - An attorney that would represent you in court. Not that I know, of course! \n\nBeefeater - This is the name given to the guards at the Tower of London and a chain of cheap steak restaurants. One is worth visiting, one is worth avoiding! \n\nBender - A bender is a gay man. Also referred to as a woofter and a few rather unsavoury terms that you'll have to visit England to find out! \n\nBerk - A fool. I remember giggling every time James Burke came on telly when I was kid. Also spelt "burk". The origin is quite interesting - it is another rhyming slang word that many people don't even realise is short for "Berkeley-Hunt", who was an 1890s stage idiot. Hunt rhymes with, well use your imagination! It's OK to say berk. \n\nBig girl's blouse - This is a nice way of saying someone is a wimp. It means someone is being pathetic. It works well for girls and blokes. \n\nThe Bill - The police, or the thing you ask for after a meal in a restaurant. In the US that is called the check. \n\nBint - A bint is a woman or your bird. \n\nBird - Your bird is your girl. A bit old fashioned and only used by your Dad or Grandad. Not very politically correct. \n\nBloke - A guy in American. A "good bloke" would be like a "nice guy". \n\nBobby - Yet another word for policeman. \n\nBoffin - This is the word for a nerd. Usually male, a boffin would be highly intelligent, have no dress sense and probably grow up to be a mad scientist or an HTML programmer! \n\nBonce - Your bonce is your head! So if someone tells you to use your bonce it means "think about it". \n\nBristols - This is a good example of a word that most Brits would know, but not necessarily realise it was derived from rhyming slang. Bristols means breasts. If you haven't worked it out yet, bristols is short for bristol city's (a football team), city's rhymes with titties, i.e. breasts! Easy huh! \n\nBrum - Short for Birmingham. People from brum are brummies and they speak brum, a kind of English! \n\nBrummy - A person from Birmingham who speaks brum. \n\nBum chum - Another name for a gay man. We have lots of other expressions, too numerous to list here. Some of the less offensive include shirtlifter and arse bandit. \n\nBuns - Some elderly ladies have buns on their heads. This is not a terrible deformity, the bun is actually rolled up hair in the shape of a currant bun. \n\nBurk - Fool. I remember giggling every time James Burke came on telly when I was kid. Also spelt berk. \n\nBusker - Street entertainer to you. Someone who makes his or her living by singing, playing or acting on the street to amuse the crowds of passers by. Busking is down to a fine art at Covent Garden in London - it's worth the trip. Reminds me of the buskers outside Quincey Market in Boston. \n\nButterfingers - You would call someone butterfingers if they were clumsy and dropped something. \n\nCack-handed - Someone who is cack-handed is clumsy. My Mum was putting her buns in the oven one afternoon and tipped the tray upside down and said she was all cack-handed. Also referred to as caggy handed in some places and means left handed in others. \n\nCake hole - This is another one I heard a lot as a kid. My Dad use to say "Shut your clanging cake hole". Now that I am a foot taller than him he might say something more like "Could you please be quiet"! It basically means your mouth. \n\nCashier - This is the person in the bank who talks to the public over the counter. You would call them tellers. \n\nChalk and cheese - This isn&
315383
Son of a gun \nMeaning\n\nA rogue or scamp - "you are naughty, you old son of a gun". Also used, although this is uncommon outside the USA, as a euphemism for 'son of a bitch'. Some say that the origin is 'son of a military man'. This explanation is disputed (see below) but, correct or not, the phrase is no longer used to convey that meaning. \n\nOrigin\n\nThere is dispute amongst etymologists about the origin of this phrase. As always, disputes only occur where there is no definitive evidence so, as you might guess, there is conflicting circumstantial evidence. I'll put the sources here and let you decide for yourself.\n\nThe two points of view are primarily these:\n\nThe phrase originated as 'son of a military man' (i.e. a gun). The most commonly repeated version in this strand is that the British Navy used to allow women to live on naval ships. Any child born on board who had uncertain paternity would be listed in the ship's log as 'son of a gun'. While it is attestable fact that, although the Royal navy had rules against it, they did turn a blind eye to women (wives or prostitutes) joining sailors on voyages, so this version has plausibility on its side. The sources for this point of view are:\n\n- The Royal Navy Museum, who confirm that women sometimes travelled on their vessels during the age of sail.\n\n- The Sailor's Workbook; William Henry Smyth, 1867. [son of a gun is] "An epithet conveying contempt in a slight degree, and originally applied to boys born afloat, when women were permitted to accompany their husbands at sea; one admiral declared he literally was thus cradled, under the breast of a gun-carriage”. \n\n- Fighting Words, Christine Ammer, 1999- "A baby conceived during wartime. In World War I the term denoted the illegitimate offspring of servicemen."\n\n- Jon Bee, a Dictionary of the Turf, 1823, ... means 'a soldier's bastard'. \n\nThe first known printed source is The British Apollo No. 43, 1708 - "You'r a Son of a Gun". That source doesn't mention the military and Smyth's version comes 150 years later, but he was himself a Royal Navy admiral and in a better position than most to know what went on aboard naval ships. Whether or not the military/naval version is the origin it is clear that, in 1823 at least, the term was used with that meaning. \n\nCounter to that you might think it unusual that military men didn't appear to have daughters, or you may just put that down to the prevailing sexism of the time. There are several phrases including the word son, some of them quite recent: \n\nEvery mother's son \nGo on my son \nLike father, like son \nMy son the doctor \nNumber one son \nOn me 'ead, son \n\nwhereas it's difficult to think of anything other than 'don't put your daughter on the stage' for daughters. \n\n\nThe term is euphemisitic and derived as a conveniently rhyming alternative to 'son of a bitch/whore'. That term has been part of the language for centuries, certainly long enough for people to some up with a euphemism for it. Shakespeare used something like it in King Lear (1605) - "One that art nothing but the composition of a Knave, Begger, Coward, Pandar, and the Sonne and Heire of a Mungrill Bitch." \n\nAlso, other sources in print in the 19th century point to the meaning at least of the phrase as indicating contempt: \n\nBarnam Ingol. Legends, Cynotaph, 1840, "We heard the rough voice of a son of a gun Of a watchman, ‘One o'clock!’ bawling."
66228
Comes from Scottish.  They invented the game, called it "Goff".  Golf is the Americanized version of that word.  Not an acronym for anything, that's absurd.
1129353
It is Cockney 'Back slang' for boy.   This slang was also known as Butcher's Slang and I can confess that it took me nearly 40 years to find out how it originated.   You see the Butcher used to write his different meats and prices on the shop window with white wash.  It might show 'Rib of Beef  £2 per lb'.  If a shopper asked for a Rib of Beef, the butcher would look at the window from the inside and see the writing in reverse.  He would call out to his assistant 'Feeb fo bir' and so on.  The reverse slang continued to gain in order that especially young people could talk about things that the older generation would not understand.  If you asked for the price of something and it was Four pounds, the shopkeeper would say 'a rouf'.   Incidentally, one of the most interesting back slang phrases comes from the US.  It was a New York Irish emigrant family called the Muldoons.  When they did a burglary they would reverse their name in back slang and write it on the walls or windows. Noodlum.   This soon became Hoodlums with criminals becoming known as Hoods.  Sorry for going on but I could not Pots..........................
289388
The origin of the word (to answer your question) is from the French "corde du roi" which translates to the king's cord, or king's rope.\n\nIt is believed that anyone caught wearing courderoy's would be hung by the king's fashion police, using (of course) the king's rope.  8^)
803805
I actually have no idea! And I'm French. So I've checked in an encyclopedia, and it says that it's still open to debate.\n\nOne of the possible origins of the word would be "serpe volante", which in Latin means "serpent volant" (flying snake), or "sèrp-volante", which means the same in Occitan. It makes sense because the first kites represented snakes or dragons.\n\nIt could also come from "Ercum volanti", "Arcum valante" or "Cercum volante", which in Latin mean "Arc volant" (flying arch). So, what's the link with the deer? Well, the deer was (still is?) wearing a crown (not sure where they saw that)... I'm not sure I really understood what they meant. There was no pictures.
211100
O.E. seolfor "silver," from P.Gmc. *silubra- (cf. O.S. silvbar, O.N. silfr, M.Du. silver, Du. zilver, O.H.G. sillabar, Ger. silber, Goth. silubr), from a common Germanic/Balto-Slavic term (cf. O.C.S. sirebo, Rus. serebo, Lith. sidabras "silver"), possibly from a language of Asia Minor. Perhaps from Akkad. sarpu "silver," lit. "refined silver," related to sarapu "to refine, smelt." Chemical abbreviation Ag is from L. argentum "silver," from the PIE root (see argent). The verb, "to cover or plate with silver" is recorded from 1440. Silverware is from 1860. \n\nHope this helps.
739144
Something like "manliness is the door to respect."\nThe Latin "virtus" is in classical Latin not the same as "virtue", it means "male" virtues, like courage and strength. It is connected to "vir"=man, and "honor" had also a slight shift in meaning since it's been taken over into English.