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"network of U.S. anti-slavery activists helping runaways elude capture," attested from 1847, but said to date from 1831 and to have been coined in jest by bewildered trackers after their slaves vanished without a trace. Originally mostly the term for escape networks in the (then) western states of the U.S.

Reykjavik

capital of Iceland, literally "bay of smoke," from Old Norse reykja "to smoke" related to reykr "smoke, steam" (see reek (n.)) + vik "bay" (see viking). So called from the natural hot springs there. Its settlement is said to date from 9c., but it was not established as a town until 1786.

someday (adv.)

"at some indefinite future date," 1768, from some + day. As two words, in the same sense, from late 14c.

MISS SOMEDAY.

Poor Charley wooed, but wooed in vain,

From Monday until Sunday;

Still Cupid whisper'd to the swain

"You'll conquer Betsey Someday."

[The Port Folio, June 1816]

continuance (n.)

mid-14c., "perseverance, a keeping up, a going on," from Old French continuance (13c.), from continuer (see continue). From late 14c. as "a holding on or remaining in a particular state;" in law, "the deferring of a trial or hearing to a future date" (early 15c.).

cosplay (n.)

"practice or hobby of dressing as a character from a movie, book, or video game, especially one from Japanese manga and anime," 1993, according to Merriam-Webster, from costume (n.) + play (n.), based on a Japanese word formed from the same English elements and alleged to date from 1983. Also used as a verb.

kahuna (n.)

1886, in a report in English by the Hawaiian government, which defines the word as "doctor and sorcerer," from Hawaiian, where it was applied as well to priests and navigators. In surfer slang, "a god of surfing," it is attested from 1962 (but big kahuna in same sense is said to date from 1950s).

billboard (n.)

also bill-board, "any sort of board where bills were meant to be posted," 1845, American English, from bill (n.1) "written public notice" + board (n.1). Billboard magazine founded 1894, originally a trade paper for the bill-posting industry; its music sales charts date from the 1930s.

movable (adj.)

also moveable, late 14c., "disposed to movement;" c. 1400, "capable of being moved," from Old French movable, from moveir (see move (v.)). A moveable feast (early 15c.) is one in the Church calendar which, though always on the same day of the week, varies its date from year to year. Related: Movability.

gadget (n.)

1886, gadjet (but said by OED corespondents to date from 1850s), sailors' slang word for any small mechanical thing or part of a ship for which they lacked, or forgot, a name; perhaps from French gâchette "catch-piece of a mechanism" (15c.), diminutive of gâche "staple of a lock." OED says derivation from gauge is "improbable."

she-male (n.)

early 19c. U.S. colloquial, "a female, a woman," from she + male.

Davy Crockett's hand would be sure to shake if his iron was pointed within a hundred miles of a shemale. ["Treasury of American Folklore"]

This became obsolete, and by 1972 it had been recoined (disparagingly) for "masculine lesbian." The sense of "transsexual male" seems to date from c. 1984.

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