Loanwords

Every language is a compressed archive. Say "e;quarantine"e; and you're citing Venice's forty-day rule against plague ships. Say "e;boycott"e; and you're naming one Irish land agent, ostracized so completely in 1880 that his name became a verb within months.But some of the best-known word-origin stories are themselves myths. "e;Salary"e; really does come from the Latin word for salt — but no Roman...