When not huffing varnish I'm humping it. Varnish comes from an Old French word of the same meaning, vernis. In Medieval Latin vernix meant an "odorous resin" and this is likely from the late Greek verenike, which is from the Macedonian Greek Berenike (literally "bringer of victory"). Berenike was an ancient city in Libya (now known as Benghazi) named for Berenike II, queen of Egypt, who lived during the 3rd c. CE and was murdered by her son Ptolemy IV. The story goes that Berenike (the city) was one of the first to experiment with the wide usage of varnishes.


varnish [Online Etymology Dictionary]
Berenice [Online Etymology Dictionary]
Berenice II [Wikipedia]
Benghazi [Wikipedia]

Labels: Greek, Medieval Latin, Old French, The Daily Hump

Makes me hungry for vareniky.