Obtain
The /b/ of obtain is followed by a voiceless sound and is therefore partially devoiced. The same can be found in absence. (Davis 2004: 87)
Okay
This word is arguably America’s greatest contribution to the English language, and not only to English, but to most of the languages of the world. In English, the word is very versatile. Thanks to a process called conversion it can be used as an adjective (“Lunch was okay”), as a noun (“I need your okay on this”), as a verb (“Can you okay me on this?”), as an adverb (“We did okay”) and as an interjection (“Okay, I can hear you.”). There is also variation with regards to spelling, OK being found besides O.K. and okay. Its origin is still obscure, although there are dozens of theories regarding it and although there are thousands of people who claim they know it. All these theories can roughly be subdivided into three groups:
1) It is derived from someone’s or something’s initials
2) It is derived from a foreign word or from an English dialect word
3) It is a contraction of the phrase Orl Korrect
The names being put forward for the first theory include an Indian chief called Old Keokuk and President Martin van Buren, whose nickname was Old Kinderhook. The words which are put forward for the second theory include Finnish oikea, Haitian Aux Cayes, and Choctaw okeh. The third theory seems the most likely one, and is also the one favoured by the OED. It is often said to be the spelling used by Andrew Jackson, the semi-literate seventh President of the USA. (Bryson 1991: 157-9)
On the wrong foot
If you start something badly, you set off on the wrong foot, the ‘wrong’ foot, of course, being the left. This belief goes back at least to Roman times. The gods were believed to guard your right side, evil spirits hovered on the left. Thus you were expected to enter a house “right foot foremost”. And you were to leave it in the same way. The dread of evil spirits was so strong that guards were appointed to stand at the doorway to all public places to make sure the rule was obeyed! The evilness of the left side is also reflected in the English word sinister, which in Latin (cf. Italian sinistra ) meant ‘left´, but has lost its ‘leftness´ and conserved its ‘evilness´ in English. (Flavell & Flavell 3 2000: 90)
On the wagon
The expression “on the wagon” can only be explained with reference to an important part of culture. It means ‘abstaining from alcohol´.
Orange
In modern English we say “an orange”, but this should really be “a norange”, since the word is ultimately derived from the Arabic naranj and the Persian narang. The boundary between the indefinite article and the word following it has been reallocated ( Davis 2004: 82). Another example is the modern word apron, which is derived from Old French naperon and ought really to be napron, but a misinterpretation of the of the boundary signals led to a reanalysis of a napron as an apron.
Out!
Imagine a shout being heard during a baseball game: Out! What does it mean? It depends. It is a mere conjecture when the shout comes from a fan, but it is a decision when it comes from the umpire. It can actually end an inning or a game. When it comes from the fan, it is of no consequence whatsoever, when it comes from the umpire it is. And that is the case although the form of the utterance is exactly the same. It all depends on who says it. (Finegan 5 2008: 26)