"to cudgel, to beat," 1650s, back-formation from Fustication (1560s) or from Latin fusticatus, past participle of fusticare "to cudgel" (to death), from fustis "cudgel, club, staff, stick of wood," of unknown origin. De Vaan writes that "The most obvious connection would be with Latin -futare" "to beat," but there are evolutionary difficulties.
1590s, fusse, first attested in fusball "puff ball of tiny spores," of uncertain origin; perhaps a back-formation from fuzzy, if that word is older than the record of it. Meaning "the police" is American English, 1929, underworld slang; origin, signification, and connection to the older word unknown. Perhaps a variant of fuss, with a notion of "hard to please."
also honkey, derogatory word for "white person," by 1967, African-American vernacular, of unknown origin, perhaps from late 19c. hunky "East-Central European immigrant," which probably is a colloquial shortening of Hungarian (compare hunk (n.2)). Honky in the sense of "factory hand" is attested by 1946 in blues slang. A connection to honky-tonk also is possible.
"drink laced with chloral hydrate," by 1918. Mickey Finn was used from the 1880s as the name of the main character in a series of popular humorous Irish-American stories published by New York Sun staff writer Ernest Jarrold (1848-1912), who sometimes also used it as his pen-name. Perhaps there is a connection.
type of firm cow's-milk cheese from Spain, 1905, literally "of La Mancha," the region in central Spain from which it takes its name. The connection of the region name with Spanish mancha "spot, stain, patch," is unclear, and the name of the plateau is perhaps a folk-etymologizing from an Arabic word. Manchego referring to the people of La Mancha, is attested in English by 1779.
late 14c., "to stagger, totter," of unknown origin, possibly from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse faltrask "be burdened, hesitate, be troubled"), or else a frequentative of Middle English falden "to fold," influenced by fault (but OED rejects any direct connection to that word). Of the tongue, "to stammer," mid-15c. Related: Faltered; faltering.
late 14c., "play or other serious literary work with an unhappy ending," from Old French tragedie (14c.), from Latin tragedia "a tragedy," from Greek tragodia "a dramatic poem or play in formal language and having an unhappy resolution," apparently literally "goat song," from tragos "goat, buck" + ōidē "song" (see ode), probably on model of rhapsodos (see rhapsody).
The connection may be via satyric drama, from which tragedy later developed, in which actors or singers were dressed in goatskins to represent satyrs. But many other theories have been made (including "singer who competes for a goat as a prize"), and even the "goat" connection is at times questioned. Meaning "any unhappy event, disaster" is from c. 1500.
"small vessel for liquids," late 13c., of uncertain origin; perhaps in Old English, or perhaps from Old Norse krus "pot, tankard," both apparently from a general Germanic root (compare Middle Dutch cruese, Dutch kroes "cup, pot, mug," Middle Low German krus, Danish krus "mug, jug," German Krause "jug, mug") of uncertain connection.
"sickly-looking; having an unhealthy, emaciated appearance," 1835, from past participle of the obsolete or dialectal verb peak "look sickly or thin, shrink, waste away" (1540s), which is perhaps from peak on the notion of "become pointed" through emaciation. Middle English had also a verb peken "to move dejectedly, slink" (mid-15c.), but the connection is uncertain. Related: Peakedness.
"casual, occurring casually in connection with something else; of minor importance," 1640s, from Medieval Latin incidentalis, from incidens (see incident (n.)). The earlier adjective in this sense was incident (1520s). Incidentals (n.) "'occasional' expenses, etc.," is attested by 1707. Incidental music "background music," originally in operas, is from 1812.
