• Fuckfuckmyfuckingass@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    15 hours ago

    I’m a bit of a word nerd, and I was wondering the etymology of the word kidnap.

    kidnap (v.)

    1680s, thieves’ cant, a compound of kid (n.) “child” and nap (v.) “snatch away,” which probably is a variant of nab (v.). Perhaps a back-formation from kidnapper, which is recorded earlier. Originally "to steal children to provide servants and laborers in the American colonies.

    Source:https://www.etymonline.com/word/kidnap

    It’s as American as apple pie apparently.