What do abominable snowmen and umpires have in common? Neither was supposed to be a real word. These terms — and others, including “nickname,” “syllabus,” and “expediate” — are the result of spelling errors or mistranslations that made their way into mainstream English. When a certain word or spelling variation gets used often enough, it gains the attention of lexicographers and might eventually get the “official” dictionary seal of approval. Let’s take a closer look at some words that started their journey into English as mistakes.

We venture to say that as long as humans have been giving each other names, they’ve been shortening and familiarizing those names. In Middle English, the word for this familiarization was “ekename,” which literally meant “also-name.” The modern English word “nickname” evolved as a misdivision (a linguistic term that describes when spelling mix-ups occur between syllables over time) of the two words “an ekename.” By the 15th century, the word “nekename” was solidified into English, and eventually, the spelling evolved into the modern English variation of “nickname.”

The name for the mythical mountain beast arose as a mistranslation of a Tibetan name in the 1920s. A journalist was interviewing members of a 1921 Mount Everest expedition and incorrectly reported a name as metoh kangmi, meaning “filthy snowman.” The true name that the explorers gave the yeti (a Sherpa term) was likely a combination of mi (“person”) and dom (“black bear”). The word “abominable,” meanwhile, is a Middle English word meaning “causing moral revulsion” — quite a harsh mistranslation for the hairy Himalayan creature.

Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder changed European geography — or at least its spelling — forever when he called northern Europe “Scandinavia,” rather than “Scadinavia” (sans the first “n”). Pliny’s misspelling soon became commonplace, and the original name was left behind.

The name for this region (traditionally referring to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden) comes from the Germanic word Scadinavia, which evolved from skadinaujo, meaning “Scadia Island,” in which aujo means “thing on the water.” At the time of its Germanic naming, Scandinavia might have been an island, because the coastlines of the Baltic Sea have changed dramatically due to drainage, ice cap melt, and other natural events.

If it weren’t for a reading error, we would be checking our class “sittybos,” not “syllabus.” The word for a course outline originated in ancient Greece as sittybos, but when the Romans adopted the word into Latin, it was apparently misread and entered into official sources as syllabus. One of the earliest examples of this appears in Cicero’s At Atticum, a collection of letters between Cicero and his friend Titus Pomponius Atticus. Within the next few centuries, syllabus was inscribed into Late Latin, with no sight of the original sittybos.

“Umpire” entered English as a mistranslated French loanword. It stems from the Old French nonper, meaning “odd number, not even,” in reference to a third-party authoritative judge. When it was brought into English, the initial “n” was incorrectly dropped because the word was heard as “an oumpere.” The misdivision result, “umpire,” became the official English version of the word by the mid-14th century, when it was used as legal jargon. It was eventually brought into gaming and sports (where it’s most commonly used today) in the early 18th century.

An ingot (a block made of a metal such as steel, gold, or silver) should be a “lingot.” When this word was adopted into English from French in the late 14th century, the “l” at the beginning of the word was dropped. English speakers thought that the French were saying l’ingot (or le ingot, where le means “the”), so they dropped the “l” because they assumed it was an article. “Lingot” originally came from the Old English goten, meaning “to pour.”

Cataracts in the forest, rhubarbs on the baseball field — what’s going on here? These phrases might sound like the makings of a nursery rhyme, but they’re in the context of little-used definitions of common words. In some cases, these obscure definitions are older than the words’ current primary uses, and they influenced the evolution of their modern definitions. Let’s learn more about how a cut can smart, why a stroll may be constitutional, and other lesser-known definitions.

Primary definition: The thick leaf stalks of a cultivated plant of the dock family, which are reddish or green and eaten as a fruit after cooking.

Lesser-known definition: A heated dispute.

Better known as a vibrantly red garden vegetable, “rhubarb” can also refer to an intense argument or controversy. This peculiar bit of American slang was popularized by sports broadcaster Red Barber in 1943 when he described a heated scuffle between baseball players. Even earlier, sports reporter Garry Schumacher used “rhubarb” when he compared an on-field baseball squabble to a tangled mess of stringy cooked rhubarb. Schumacher furthered the comparison while reminiscing about his childhood, when neighborhood children used rhubarb sandwiches as ammunition during food fights. To Schumacher, “rhubarb” was a shoo-in for sportscasting slang.

Across the pond, “rhubarb” has another industry-specific usage: In British theater circles, “rhubarb” is the sound from a group of background actors, intended to simulate indistinct conversation and general crowd noise.

Primary definition: A medical condition in which the lens of the eye becomes progressively opaque, resulting in blurred vision.

Lesser-known definition: A large waterfall. A sudden rush of water; a downpour.

Today, it’s much more common to talk to an older relative about their cataract surgery than about an impressive waterfall, but the latter was the original usage of the word “cataract.” You might say, for example, “The log traversed the cataracts of the Niagara River,” or, “The storm brought cataracts of rain.” This original usage stems from the Latin cataracta, meaning “waterfall.” Cataracta has a secondary definition in Latin as well: portcullis, the word for a heavy iron gate found in medieval fortresses. The modern term for the ocular condition likely evolved from this definition — a gate is a blockage, just as a cataract blocks vision.

Primary definition: (adjective) Relating to an established set of principles governing a state.

Lesser-known definition: (noun) A walk, typically one taken regularly to maintain or restore good health.

As a political buzzword, “constitutional” relates to set principles that govern a state. However, the wellness-related definition has been around longer. Since the 1680s, “constitutional” has been used as an adjective meaning “relating to someone’s physical or mental condition.” This evolved into the noun “constitutional” to describe a walk that had health benefits, as in, “The sunny autumn day was perfect for a constitutional.” Using “constitutional” in reference to being allowed by a state’s constitution came about in the mid-1800s.

Primary definition: (adjective) Having or showing a quick-witted intelligence.

Lesser-known definition: (verb) Feel or cause a sharp stinging pain.

“She tried to distract herself from the smarting of the bee sting.” Even if you had never heard of this usage of “smart,” you can tell from the context that it describes something painful. This less-common usage of “smart” is actually the oldest, found in Old English (as smeart) since at least the 12th century to describe a stinging action or feeling. The Old English variation ​​smeortan meant “to be painful.” “Smart” wasn’t used to describe intelligence until the 17th century, perhaps stemming from the notion of using cutting or witty words — words that sting. In both usages — intelligence and pain — “smart” can be used as an adjective, noun, verb, and adverb.

Primary definition: (noun) A married man considered in relation to his spouse.

Lesser-known definition: (verb) Use (resources) economically; conserve.

A husband is a married man, but if someone husbands their resources, it means that they are frugal, conservative, or thrifty. To use both versions in context: “My husband husbanded his strength during the first half of the marathon,” means the speaker’s spouse saved some energy for the final part of the race. “Husband” has been used as a synonym for “conserve” since the 15th century, but the definition of a male spouse is slightly older, from the Old English husbonda.

Primary definition: (verb) Intend to convey, indicate, or refer to (a particular thing or notion); signify.

Lesser-known definition: (adjective) Poor in quality and appearance; shabby.

“Mean” takes on many uses in English: a synonym for “malicious” or “unkind,” a mathematical average, and a word to convey intention (“You know what I mean?”), to name a few. Perhaps the least-used definition of “mean” refers to something as “inferior” or “of poor quality,” as in, “The roadside motel was mean, but we just needed a place to sleep for the night.” “Mean” has been used in this sense since the 14th century, when it was first used to describe people of lower rank or social class and evolved into describing objects and things as “run-down” or “lowly.”

Primary definition: (verb) Mark (a person or a part of the body) with an indelible design by inserting pigment into punctures in the skin.

Lesser-known definition: (noun) An evening drum or bugle signal recalling soldiers to their quarters.

The oldest definition of “tattoo” is also now the the least commonly used. Today, the word (used as a noun and a verb) is synonymous with decorative ink markings on the skin, but the original version of “tattoo” evolved from the 17th-century Dutch term taptoe. It meant “close the tap (of the cask),” from tap (“the faucet of a cask”) and toe (“shut”). The expression referred to the practice of police turning off tavern taps at closing time, and the phrase was adopted for the signal (drumming or trumpeting) used to call soldiers or sailors to quarters at the end of the night, as in, “The evening tattoo was heard throughout the barracks.” From that, “tattoo” came to mean any sort of rhythmic tapping.

“Tattoo” in the sense of body art has an entirely different etymology. It entered English in the mid-18th century from the Tahitian, Tongan, and Samoan word ta-tau.