Whatzat mean? Word origins.

PaPa · 05-05-2013, 09:20 PM

Thanks Sweet Bliss for beginning this thread. It sounds like it could be fun learning new things! I looked up Dregs. I always believed it meant undesireables like the phrase "dregs of society". I recently used those particular words in a paper for school to point out the societal view of addicts in their addictions. The site you provided had this to say:

dregs (n.)
c.1300 (implied in surname Dryngedregges), from Old Norse dregg "sediment," from Proto-Germanic *drag- (cf. Old High German trestir, German Trester "grapeskins, husks"), from PIE *dher- (1) "to make muddy." Replaced Old English cognate dræst, dærst "dregs, lees." Figurative use is from 1530s.

'Sediment' or 'to make muddy' would probably be what led to that phrase being used. Another way of saying scum of the Earth.

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05-05-2013, 09:20 PM	#9
PaPa Senior Member How Do You Identify?: GQ Butch Daddy Relationship Status: A Very Protective BIG Daddy... Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 2,657 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 7,597 Thanked 5,871 Times in 1,530 Posts Rep Power: 21474854	Thanks Sweet Bliss for beginning this thread. It sounds like it could be fun learning new things! I looked up Dregs. I always believed it meant undesireables like the phrase "dregs of society". I recently used those particular words in a paper for school to point out the societal view of addicts in their addictions. The site you provided had this to say: dregs (n.) c.1300 (implied in surname Dryngedregges), from Old Norse dregg "sediment," from Proto-Germanic drag- (cf. Old High German trestir, German Trester "grapeskins, husks"), from PIE dher- (1) "to make muddy." Replaced Old English cognate dræst, dærst "dregs, lees." Figurative use is from 1530s. 'Sediment' or 'to make muddy' would probably be what led to that phrase being used. Another way of saying scum of the Earth.