Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries

by Kory Stamper

The word “finna” is an excellent example: it’s common in Southern English as an alteration of “fixing to,” which is itself a Southernism for “going to,” and it rarely appears in edited print outside the American South.

Who thought that “pumpernickel” was a good name for a dark rye bread? Because when you trace the word back to its German origins, you find it means “fart goblin,”*5 and now you cannot help but blench and giggle whenever you see pumpernickel.