What’s in a word? Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Do words shape ideas, or is it the other way around? Do the limitations of language (homonyms; synonyms; diverse word origins evolving into words sounding the same but meaning totally different things) expand our perspectives while still subtly limiting them?

“Etymology”, the origin of words, is always fascinating. Most words can be traced to Proto-Indo-European, or “PIE”, as it is often abbreviated.

The Trayvon Martin case has forced all of us to look at our own basic prejudices and assumptions.

So the question remains: What’s in a word?

Below are some dictionary definitions and etymologies for three words: “Hoodlum”, “Hood”, and “Hoodie”. When you hear these words, think of what they evoke in your mind, and then read below for the dictionary definitions and believed origins of these words.

Mike

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“Hoodlum”

SOURCE: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hoodlum

Pronunciation: IPA: /ˈhud.lə̆m/[edit] Etymology

Since 1871. Origin unknown, but many explanations have been put forward. Online Etymology Dictionary indicates that a guess as good as any is from German dialect (Bavarian) Huddellump (“ragamuffin”).

According to Herbert Asbury in his book The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld (1933, A. A. Knopf, New York), the word originated in San Francisco from the call of a particular street gang, huddle’em. Thousands of resentful unemployed Irish workers beat up Chinese migrants. San Francisco newspapers thereafter took to calling street gangs “hoodlums”.

[edit] Noun

hoodlum (plural hoodlums)

1. a gangster; a hiredthug

“Hoodlum”

 SOURCE: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=rowdy

hoodlum: popularized 1871, Amer.Eng., (identified throughout the 1870s as “a California word”) “young street rowdy, loafer,” especially one involved in violence against Chinese immigrants, “young criminal, gangster;” it appears to have been in use locally from a slightly earlier date and may have begun as a specific name of a gang:

The police have recently been investigating the proceedings of a gang of thieving boys who denominate themselves and are known to the world as the Hoodlum Gang. [San Francisco “Golden Era” newspaper, Feb. 16, 1868, p.4]

Of unknown origin, though newspapers of the day printed myriad fanciful stories concocted to account for it. A guess perhaps better than average is that it is from German dialectal (Bavarian) Huddellump “ragamuffin” [Barnhart].

What the derivation of the word “hoodlum” is we could never satisfactorily ascertain, though several derivations have been proposed; and it would appear that the word has not been very many years in use. But, however obscure the word may be, there is nothing mysterious about the thing; …. [Walter M. Fisher, “The Californians,” London, 1876]

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“Hood”

SOURCE: http://dictionary.reference.com/cite.html?qh=hooded&ia=etymon

“gangster,” 1930, Amer.Eng., shortened form of hoodlum. As a shortened form of neighborhood it began 1980s in Los Angeles black slang.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper Cite This Source

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Updated 1/1/2016: A very extensive article on the words “Hoodlum” and “Hood” can be found at http://www.frederickbee.com/hoodlum.html

ALSO:

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“Hood”

noun

1. a soft or flexible covering for the head and neck, either separate or attached to a cloak, coat, or the like.

2. something resembling or suggesting such a covering, especially in shape, as certain petals or sepals.

3. the hinged, movable part of an automobile body covering the engine.

4. British . the roof of a carriage.

5. a metal cover or canopy for a stove, ventilator, etc.

6. Falconry . a cover for the entire head of a hawk, used when the bird is not in pursuit of game.

7. an ornamental ruffle or fold on the back of the shoulders of an academic gown, jurist’s robe, etc.

8. a crest or band of color on the head of certain birds and animals.

verb (used with object)

9. to furnish with a hood.

10. to cover with or as if with a hood.

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SOURCE: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hoodIE?s=t

World English Dictionary

hoodie (ˈhʊdɪ) — n

1. a hooded sweatshirt

2. a young person who wears a hooded sweatshirt, regarded by some as a potential hooligan

Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition 2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 Cite This Source