Unknown Origins

Gremlin is a relatively recent word, coming into the English language through Royal Air Force pilots in the 1920s before being used by American pilots in the 1940s and entering mainstream English shortly thereafter. Said to be little creatures that cause mechanical faults in airplanes, it has been suggested that the word is related to goblin.

Although it is unclear where the word actually jazz comes from, there is a plethora of suggested etymologies. If you would like to find out more, Vocabulary.com's very own Ben Zimmer wrote a piece on the subject.

Originally, in the 1800s, blizzard meant a 'hail of gunfire' or a 'violent blow' but for some reason it came to describe harsh, snowy storms since the hard winter of 1880-81 in the United States. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) posits that the word is "probably more or less onomatopoeic". Regardless, nobody actually knows where the word comes from.

First used in 1924, it remains unclear where this word comes from. One argument is that it's from Jalapa, Mexico, where it is said that many American cars were sent.

First spotted on its own in 1845, it was originally part of back slum, which was used to describe dirty streets in London, inhabited by the poor. Where the phrase came from is unclear.

There are a few theories about this one. First seen in 1701, some say that it's an alternate form of force or that it's supposed to be imitative of bubbling or sputtering sounds. It has also been pointed out that fuss may be related to Danish fjas, for 'nonsense'.

Despite looking like Old Norse lag, 'felled tree' (from liggja, 'to lie'), experts agree that it can't be the root of our log, based on the way other words come into English from Norse. Another theory is that it's a word made to reflect the size of a large object with sound.

Log as in 'record' comes from the above; a small piece of wood would be used by ships to measure their speed before making records in a ledger. Log in comes from log as in 'record'.

Very little is known about the origin of tantrum. All we know for sure, is that it used to be tanterum and that its first recorded usage is 1714.

From the 1920s in America, it has been suggested that gimmick is an anagram of magic, but no other serious claims have been made as to the origin of this word.

In the 1560s freak emerged meaning a 'sudden change of mind', possibly from Old English frician, 'to dance'. We generally have little idea, however, of how this word came to its modern meaning.

There is an obscure meaning of freak, as in 'strong/bold man'; this comes from Old English freca, 'warrior' or 'hero'.

In the 1500s hunch meant 'push' or 'thrust', but where it came from is still unclear.

Hunch meaning 'hint' or 'tip' is from the above, as in a 'push towards a certain answer'.

Dodge arose in the 1560s and is possibly from the Scottish dodd, 'to jog'. But really, its etymology is obscure.

At one point meaning 'argot' and then 'jargon', slang has no tenable roots. It has been said to come from Norwegian slengenamn, 'nickname', or slengja kjeften, 'to abuse with words' or literally 'to sling the jaw'. Many experts, including OED, claim that this is unlikely based on "date and early associations".

First spotted in the 18th century, bludgeon's origins are unknown, although it may be onomatopoeic.

It was once said that curmudgeon is from the French coeur mechant, 'evil heart', but this is no longer taken seriously and has now been identified as a misreading. Other explanations include pointing out the first syllable cur, as in 'dog', or muigean, which is Gaelic for 'disagreeable person'. The only thing we know for sure, is that nobody is very sure at all.