ABSTRACT
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, etymology played a central role in linguistic work; even today it is difficult to imagine a university course in historical linguistics which does not at least occasionally touch upon etymology. But starting in the mid-twentieth century the central role of etymology in linguistic research began to recede. Now, at least in the United States, very few universities offer even a single course in this subject; possibly because there are so few professors whose main research interest is etymology. For the scholarly study of slang etymology, the output is particularly limited. This book is a reminder of the considerable research that can go into the origin of a single slang word or phrase. Put the kibosh on has long been regarded as one of the great mysteries of the English language, but Matthew Little and Stephen Goranson independently hit upon a plausible explanation, viz the kurbash (whip).
