DOGGONE IT

In recent weeks, I've been inundated with a sizeable influx of word requests, so I just want to take a moment to note that if I haven't addressed your submission in a post, it might have already been covered (which you can check by going to the Word Archives)- or there is no etymology to give, and that's what I want to discuss with the rest of this post. I often pick more glamorous origins to explain - ones with backstories and fun facts I can entertain you with. The truth is that the majority of the most simple words you rely on every day (the, no, and, it, small, how, etc.) have always been needed as humans use language. Thus, they have been present without much change in spelling or meaning throughout the eons. I'll illustrate this with a recently requested word, dog. It comes from the Old English word dogca, which referred to a specific breed of dog, and that, through Proto-Germanic, is from Proto-Indo-European kwon, also meaning "dog". It's just a word that's always been there, and because there hasn't been any major alteration over time, it doesn't merit a full blog post. So, just know that I'm not ignoring your request - in fact, I greatly appreciate it. Perhaps it was already done, or perhaps it's simply too simple. Still an interesting concept to cover, though!