The Crazy Origins Behind Words You Use Every Day

Vanilla

crazy word origins
IMAGE BY: Xta-Sea

The etymology of this word is not very “vanilla” – if anything, it’s kinda kinky. It comes from the Spanish vainilla, meaning “little sheath,” referring to the shape of the vanilla plant’s flower pod. But the root of vaina (“sheath”) is Latin vagina (“sheath”), which was metaphorically applied to the female reproductive organ, only to eventually be adopted as the official English medical term.

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