Explode "Copernicus uses the word explodendum, which means being hissed or clapped off the stage. The OED confirms that this is also the original but now obsolete meaning of the english word explode, which did not pick up the modern definition of "to blow up with a loud noise" until around 1700. Shakespeare never used the word despite its theatrical connotation, but his contemporary Kepler did." (cf. "plaudit")
Travel apparently has same derivation as "travail" (!!)
Orient one "orients" a map because in Medieval maps, East was at the top.
Sarcophagus from the Greek “flesh-eating” because Greek coffins were made of limestone, which consumed all of the body except the teeth in 40 days.
Hangnail from OE “ange” = painful. Nothing to do with hanging.
Punch An Indian word from “panch” (five) ingredients – water, sugar, lime-juice, spice, arrack.
Suede French word for Swedish (earliest exporters of this king of leather)
Checkmate in chess comes from the Persian phrase "Shah Mat," which means "the king is dead".
Mountebank (a charlatan or huckster), directly from the Italian, as one who “mounts” a “banco” (bench) to sell things in the public square.
The above are all from notes I have scribbled over the years; I haven't rechecked these against the OED for accuracy. Any corrections or additional comments are welcome. Blog entry #1 on this topic was posted 5 months ago, and is at THIS LINK.
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