WORD HISTORIES VI

SIN

Sin is an archery term from ancient Greek and Hebrew meaning "to miss the mark." That is, to miss the mark of perfection - to fall short of God's full glory.

 

MAUDLIN

The word maudlin is an English development of the second name of Mary Magdalene, the sinful woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears. From this evolved the popular legend of Mary Magdalene as a reformed prostitute who became one of Jesus' most devoted and favored female disciples. She was frequently depicted in art as weeping copiously for her sins, and it is this attribute of hers that gave rise to the current sense of the adjective maudlin as "effusively or tearfully sentimental." 

PETREL

Petrels are noted for flying so close to the water that they appear to be walking on it. Their name may have come from this behavior, although the origin of the word is not known for certain. The English explorer and pirate, William Dampier, gave the first recorded version of that explanation: "As they fly ....... they pat the Water alternately with their Feet, as if they walk upon it; tho' still upon the Wing. And from hence the Seamen give them the name of Petrels, in allusion to St. Peter's walking upon the Sea of Galilee."