Windows

[jacpol2003]

Why are windows called windows?

[Cactus]

You'd have to ask Bill Gates that one. Perhaps it sounds better than "boxes".

Oh, you mean those things houses have? Haven't a clue.

[Cetti]

The source of our word window is a vivid metaphor. Window comes to us from the Scandinavian invaders and settlers of England in the early Middle Ages. Although we have no record of the exact word they gave us, it was related to Old Norse vindauga, 'window,' a compound made up of vindr, 'wind,' and auga, 'eye,' reflecting the fact that at one time windows contained no glass. The metaphor 'wind eye' is of a type beloved by Norse and Old English poets and is called a kenning; other examples include oar-steed for 'ship' and whale-road for 'sea.' Recently we have restored to the 800-year-old word window a touch of its poetic heritage, using it figuratively in such phrases as launch window, weather window, and window of opportunity or vulnerability. http://www.bartleby.com/61/8/W0170800.html

[sft42]

Cause it would clearly be a pane if they were called anything else!!!!

[gazzawazza]

I don't know, but I know why bungalows are called bungalows (cue corny old joke here...!)

After telling my young daughter that one years ago, the next day she told me she had told her teacher it. She then went on to tell me exactly what she had said and her punchline was... "And the men ran out of bricks so they said 'Oh it's alright, we'll just put a little roof on it'!"

[josiemac]

Thanks Cetti - I feel better now that I know! As for the unlikely "jokes" - better luck next time the rest of you!