History of the English Word: Shampoo

Among the words to have come into English from India is the word shampoo. Many of you might have guessed that the word shampoo has a French background (perhaps from Champoux). Nope. Actually, Champoux turns out to be a French surname, and has nothing to do with washing your hair. Shampoo, from the Hindi word champo, was first recorded (1762) as a verb meaning to give a head massage. A century later the word referred to washing hair, and a few years later, it referred to the soap with which one shampooed.

Naturally, a question comes to mind: If English didn't have a word for a product used for washing hair until basically the mid-1800s, does that mean that perhaps the English-speaking peoples did not have the thing itself?
Short answer: yes.
Longer answer: People used to use ordinary lye-based soap to wash their hair in times of old. That meant that they had to deal with soapy residues, especially in places with hard water. It's no wonder that the new shampoo compounds that came in during the 1930s were welcomed as exciting progress indeed!

An that, folks, is the history of the word (and a bit of the product) shampoo.

Federal Education Grants Propel Real Reform!

The excerpt below describes a new U.S. federal education grant called Race to the Top. It's a bit like the failed No Child Left Behind, except with funding! Read on.

 

From an article by Greg Toppo, USA TODAY

 

It's relatively small by Washington standards, but the Obama administration's $4.35 billion carrot for schools is already leading states to adopt a handful of key reforms. Tucked into the $110 billion federal stimulus slated for education, a comparatively tiny grant known as the Race to the Top requires that states that want the money must commit to closing historic achievement gaps and getting more kids into college – but they also must show that they're attending to a few nitty-gritty details that President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan believe are important, including:

•Tying teacher and principal pay – and school assignments – to student test scores.

•Adopting internationally benchmarked academic standards.

•Turning around their lowest-performing schools.

•Building long-term student tracking systems.

•Loosening legal caps on the number of charter schools that states allow each year.

Obama's message to American children is to stay in school and get an education,"You can't drop out of school and into a good job."

 

Read the rest of this article in USA Today.

Schoolhouse Rock Interactive DVDs!

As a language teacher, I love the classic grammar edition of Schoolhouse Rock. Produced in the 1970s and owned by Disney, this 2007 DVD of all of the old grammar songs, including Conjunction Junction (what's your function?) is the best of the best. I use it when teaching English, as well as when teaching new teachers how to teach English. These are fun and educational music videos for people of all ages who are learning English as either a first or second language, and the Language Village recommends them highly! Just click the link below to read more about the grammar edition of Schoolhouse Rock and to order the interactive DVD from Amazon.

"Unfriend" is Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year 2009

'Unfriend' Chosen as Oxford Dictionary's 2009 Word of the Year

Ian Paul, PC World

Nov 17, 2009 5:07 am

Proving that social networking is a huge cultural force, the New Oxford American Dictionary has chosen 'unfriend' as its 2009 Word of the Year (WOTY). To unfriend means to remove someone from your friend list on a social network like Facebook or MySpace. The new word is an excellent choice as the 2009 WOTY because of its "currency and potential longevity," according to Christine Lindberg, Senior Lexicographer for Oxford's US dictionary program.
Many lexicographers nominate their own WOTY every year. Words are usually chosen based on their popularity in everyday usage and cultural importance over the previous twelve months. Oxford's dubious honor puts unfriend in the same ranks as previous WOTY honorees like hypermiling, locavore and the Al Gore-inspired carbon neutral.
Techno challengers

Unfriend was chosen from a total of twenty-four contenders for 2009. Other technology-related words in the running for Word of the Year included:
hashtag: a # [hash] sign added to a word or phrase that enables Twitter users to search for tweets (postings on the Twitter site) that contain similarly tagged items and view thematic sets
intexticated: distracted because texting on a cellphone while driving a vehicle
netbook: a small, very portable laptop computer with limited memory
paywall: a way of blocking access to a part of a website which is only available to paying subscribers
sexting: the sending of sexually explicit texts and pictures by cellphone
Words were also considered from the lexicons of economics (freemium), politics and current affairs (teabagger), environment (brown state) as well as novelty words like 'deleb' and 'tramp stamp.'
'Un-' Not Just for Adjectives Anymore

Besides being a popular phrase--not to mention close rival to 'defriend'--the 2009 WOTY employs an unconventional use of the 'un-' prefix.   Unfriend is different, because most 'un-' prefix words are typically adjectives, while unfriend takes on a verb form, according to Lindberg. There are examples of other 'un-' verbs, such as unpack and uncap, but unfriend takes it one step further by employing an abnormal "verb sense" of the word 'friend.'
Unfriend, according to Lindberg, has "real lex-appeal." [Insert eye roll here].
If you're an avid unfriender, don't forget that soon you'll be able to drop friends using your PlayStation 3. Sony announced on Monday, that Facebook integration would be coming with firmware version 3.10, the soon-to-be-released update for the PS3.

DVD Review: Classic Peanuts Holiday Videos

Are you looking for a couple of fabulous videos to show to English language learners and to native speakers of English for Halloween and Christmas? There are plenty available, but few withstand the test of time better than the all-time classic Peanuts holiday shows! Use these to introduce your learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) to both new vocabulary words, parts of speech, intonation, and American holiday celebrations. Show these videos to classes of mixed English as a Second Language (ESL) and native speakers of English classes in the United States or elsewhere. Show these classic made for TV specials at parties and social gatherings when you want your guests to feel nostalgic. Whether you are a teacher or not, whether you have ESL/EFL students in your class or not, these are two of the most timeless and versatile shows available. Those of us here in the Language Village highly recommends adding them to your collection! The videos are in English and are each about 25 minutes long--a perfect length for using in class. Click the link below for a low Amazon price. 6% of each sale made through this website benefits the Language Village, and helps to keep this site free to the public. Thanks for your support!



Contact the Language Village editors at citizensofplanetearth@gmail.com, attention Language Village Editors if you need free and easy activity ideas to use with these holiday videos!