Activity 1 Read the sentences with key notes in brackets and fill the gaps choosing appropriate word from the box

Which stories below do you think are the true origins

1) What is the origin of the word “copycat?”

a) This expression refers to way cats behave and their learning process. The expression was first used by William Shakespeare in his play, The Dutch Prince when one of the characters says, “By my troth Sir, if thou art not a copycat of feeble excuses!” in reference to a contemporary playwright who plagiarised one of his lesser well-known plays.

b) This phrase comes from an old Egyptian expression that is linked to the Pharaoh, Ramses the Great. He was said to compare one of his architects to a cat, saying that he took other designs, copied them as a cat would and then made them better. At the time that he said this, cats were considered to be gods and were seen as extremely intelligent.

c) This expression is taken from the word “copy-cut”, which was used by people before invention of photocopy machines meaning to cut texts from newspapers and create posters as copy-cuts. Pronounced with an American accent, the word changed to "copy-cat" later. Eventually it was used to refer to people who copied other people’s work, behaviour or even fashion.
2) What is the origin of the expression “to play truant?”

a) This expression comes from a very old French word that means “beggar.” It refers to people that have no work or possessions and can only survive by asking people for money or food. This was connected to people who had no skills or training and eventually was used to indicate people who didn’t go to school.

b) This expression is related to fishing in coastal towns and communities in Scotland. The old Scottish word for fishing in a boat was called truant. When the fishing season started, many of the towns up and down the coast of Scotland would prefer to have their children helping their parents fishing rather than send them to school. So, they would play truant instead.

c) This saying comes from the word “true.” In the 17^th century, the upper classes received a decent form of education while the lower middle classes and working classes received little or none. However, they were said to have had the education of real life experience, or a “true education.” This became corrupted to “truant,” and eventually those that didn’t go to school became known as truants.
3) What is the origin of the word “bookworm?”

a) In Old English the word worm also meant dragon or serpent. When Christianity finally arrived in the British Isles, the only people that could read and write were priests and the nobility. Most educational books were written and read by priests. However, they still believed that knowledge was an “original sin” as depicted in the story of Adam and Eve in the Bible. This is when the devil, in the form of a serpent (or worm, in Old English), tempted Eve into taking a bite from an apple on the Tree of Knowledge which led to humankind being expelled from paradise. As such, readers and writers of books were known as bookworms to remind them of their sin.

b) The origin of the idiom “bookworm” probably originated as something of a derogatory term for a person who studied or read more than was usual. Insects such as silverfish, book lice, and linoleum beetles were referred to as bookworms because they inhabited books; hence the expression.

c) The first public library in England was built in the town of Worm, Worcester in 1327 as a gift from the king to the people of England. The library was very successful and very soon other towns started to copy the idea. Free literacy classes were given to the town’s poor in Worm and they were soon known as bookworms.
4) What is the origin of the word “swot?”

a) This is a corruption of the word “sweat” and relates to the perspiration or hard work involved when revising for something. In Middle English, the word for sweat was swot, and in Old English it was swāt. It was first used as a verb, perhaps originating from public schools, in the mid-19^th century.

b) This word is a corruption of the verb to swat, meaning to kill by hitting or crushing, as in to swat a fly. Education in schools of the middle ages was a very violent business. The teachers, who were usually priests, would beat the students if they made mistakes. They would be swatted until they learned their lessons, hence the expression.