Tonight's random learning, "Get the hell out of Dodge" is a quote which was popularized on the old Western show 'Gunsmoke.' I always wondered where it came from.
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Ballot etymology
Courtesy of Merriam Webster on social media:
During the Renaissance, people in Venice would vote by dropping little balls into an urn.
The Italian word for “little ball” is ‘ballotta.’
Now any kind of secret voting, by ball, piece of paper, or voting machine, is called a ‘ballot.’*
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On Gremlins as well as Bugs and Daemons
An interesting peek at the history of the 'gremlin' that also delves into the history of the use of 'bug' and 'daemon.' Apparently Thomas Edison is cited as referring to issues with his inventions as bugs:
Thomas Edison invoked the term to describe sudden difficulties in his inventions; "bugs," he wrote, "show themselves and months of anxious watching, study and labor are requisite before commercial success-or failure-is certainly reached."
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Decadence's second meaning
Decadence is also a noun for "a period of decline." - Which, makes sense when you break the word apart.
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Boffo
Watching Christmas movies with Katie and we get around to watching White Christmas, which I don't believe I've ever watched before. I was captured by one of the fake headlines it shows in the movie, were Variety refers to the lead duo as "Going Boffo."
So I looked it up:adjective adjective: boffo
(of a theatrical production or movie, or a review of one) very successful or wholeheartedly commendatory.
(of a laugh) deep and unrestrained.
But when I go deeper, Wikipedia I discovered a rare direct contradiction within an entry:
Boffo, an informal term meaning very good, originated with the Hollywood trade magazine Variety.
It's a portmanteau of "(B)ox (Off)ice" with the final "o" appended for effect, and while some may claim its origins were with the trade journal "Variety", it's more likely it came from the trade journal of the motion-picture theater business that called itself "Box Office".
I couldn't find a hard source and honestly don't care to delve into it. I did, however, submit a change cutting the problematic half of the first sentence to allow the second sentence to stand.
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