Note: we do not normally address words which have already been discussed and are in the database, but we thought this was a good opportunity to stress the need to read our rules and check the database. Of course, we were only joshin with the three gentlemen above - we do not wish to deter anyone from questioning anything we might say, but well ridicule you publicly if youre wrong! Heehee.

Since we're on the topic of spurious barb- etymologies, I should mention that barbecue does not arise from the French de la barbe à la queue ("from the beard to the tail"), as several readers who refuse to Take Our Word For It have written to say. It comes from barbakoa, a word in the language of the pre-Columbian natives of Haiti, just as our database indicates. The word refers to the wooden framework, traditionally made from allspice wood, used for cooking over a fire.

See our section on Ernest Weekleys test for a sound etymology . While the notion that barbarians were bearded and thus were named for their beards sounds plausible, one must find evidence in the record to support that. The evidence clearly points in an entirely different direction in this case. Moreover, while Greek men did typically wear beards, Greece was the source of Roman culture. No educated Roman would ever call a Greek a barbarian.

Barber (13th century) and related words barb (14th century) and barbel (a fish with hair-like protrusions around its mouth, 14th century) come from Latin barba "beard". English beard (Old English) comes from a relative of the Latin form, Germanic bartha . Today German for beard is bart and the Dutch form is baard .

In the archives we were adamant that barbarian is not related to barber and other beard -related words, and we do not sway from that position now. No etymologist will agree with the notion that barbarians were thus named because of their beards or because they had no razors! Barbarian came to us from Greek b á rbaros "the sound foreigners make" (funny how now we say "Its Greek to me" to mean something similar!), and the Romans got their form barbaria from the Greeks. A related word is the first word in the place name Barbary Coast, supposedly named because the inhabitants there spoke a foreign tongue, at least to European ears. The Sanskrit cognate is barbaras "stammering".

Messrs. Fifer (who wrote the above query), Sharron and Komlos all inquired separately about barbarian . Mr. Komlos (whose e-mail is too lengthy to reprint here) did the right thing and checked our archives first, and he found barbarian discussed therein, but he questioned our expertise. Thats a no-no, Mr. Komlos! Bad reader! Detention hall for you today, young man! (Why do you think it's called Take Our Word For It ?) As for Messrs. Sharron and Fifer, you should have checked the database first. No gold star on your homework today!

Please can someone settle an argument? I believe the word barbarian derives from the Romans reference to foreign speech as bar-bar (like sheep). My protagonist claims it derives from the Roman reference to "bearded" as savages did not have razors. Please advise!

This week's spotlight was inspired by several queries regarding the word barbarian. Apparently there is no small amount of disagreement on the word's origin, despite our best efforts to enlighten. Read on.