Mysteries of vernacular: Fizzle - Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Jessica Ruby

Mysteries of vernacular:

Fizzle,

to end weakly

or to fail,

to die out.

The definition of fizzle

likely links back to the Old English word fist,

which meant stink.

In the mid-fifteenth century,

fist developed into the verb fisten,

to break wind,

which eventually lead to the modern word feisty,

but that's another story.

In its earliest form,

as a variant of fisten,

fizzle had a very specific meaning:

to break wind without noise.

Surprisingly, considering this initial definition,

by the 1800s, the word fizzle referred instead

to a specific sound,

rather graphically,

to the sputtering or hissing of a gas or liquid

being forced out of a narrow opening.

The figurative sense of the word,

a weak ending,

is thus understandable within the context

of a flame consuming the last drops of oil in a lantern

or a valve drawing out the contents

of the bottom of a cask.

Though perhaps not derived directly

from this subsiding verb,

our modern meaning of fizzle

developed as slang in the 1800s.

Originally used on college campuses

to describe failure,

specifically on an exam,

it wasn't long before the word came to mean

exactly what it does today

and was quickly and widely adopted.