Word Origins

 

*HOPSCOTCH

Back in the seventeenth century, this children's game was called scotch-hoppers, which appears to be the earliest English name, although one writer says that the game itself probably dates back to the beginning of the Christian era. But the "scotch" part of the name is in no way related to the country of Scotland nor its people. A giveaway to its real meaning is that in some English shires the game is called hop-score, for the lines marking the squares to be hopped are scored or scotched in the ground.

*Inspired by Charles Funk (1881–1957)