Comic Transcripts

Plantation Hat: Is “pepper” something that adds pep? Or does “pep” describe the result of adding pepper?
Which came first, I wonder?

Monocled Linguist: Actually, they’re false cognates! Pepper is named for Sir Davis Pepper, who was the first to import the spice from India to Britain in the seventeenth century.
It was a trade name: Pepper Brand Shockening Powder, later genericized simply to pepper.

Monocled Linguist: Whereas “pep” comes from the Middle Greek “pepos”, meaning verve or spirit. Hence pep rally.
Sometimes coincidences like that happen!

Top Hat Bystander: Why are you such a liar?
Monocled Linguist: Come on! I have a linguistics degree.
This is all I have!

{{header: shed light on WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: “How often does somebody actually WONDER ABOUT ETYMOLOGY in my PRESENCE?? You GOTTA give me this!!”}}

#829; In which Pepper is explained transcribed by in

Plantation Hat: Is “pepper” something that adds pep? Or does “pep” describe the result of adding pepper?
Which came first, I wonder?

Monocled Linguist: Actually, they’re false cognates! Pepper is named for Sir Davis Pepper, who was the first to import the spice from India to Britain in the seventeenth century.
It was a trade name: Pepper Brand Shockening Powder, later genericized simply to pepper.

Monocled Linguist: Whereas “pep” comes from the Middle Greek “pepos”, meaning verve or spirit. Hence pep rally.
Sometimes coincidences like that happen!

Top Hat Bystander: Why are you such a liar?
Monocled Linguist: Come on! I have a linguistics degree.
This is all I have!

{{header: shed light on WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: “How often does somebody actually WONDER ABOUT ETYMOLOGY in my PRESENCE?? You GOTTA give me this!!”}}

#829; In which Pepper is explained transcribed by in

Plantation Hat: Is "pepper" something that adds pep? Or does "pep" describe the result of adding pepper?
Which came first, I wonder?

Monocled Linguist: Actually, they're false cognates! Pepper is named for Sir Davis Pepper, who was the first to import the spice from India to Britain in the seventeenth century.
It was a trade name: Pepper Brand Shockening Powder, later genericized simply to pepper.

Monocled Linguist: Whereas "pep" comes from the Middle Greek "pepos", meaning verve or spirit. Hence pep rally.
Sometimes coincidences like that happen!

Top Hat Bystander: Why are you such a liar?
Monocled Linguist: Come on! I have a linguistics degree.
This is all I have!

{{header: shed light on WONDERMARK.COM}}
{{alt-text: "How often does somebody actually WONDER ABOUT ETYMOLOGY in my PRESENCE?? You GOTTA give me this!!"}}

''How often does somebody actually WONDER ABOUT ETYMOLOGY in my PRESENCE?? You GOTTA give me this!!''

#829; In which Pepper is explained

  — April 20th, 2012

[ Tags: , , ]       Permalink: https://wondermark.com/c/829/

More surprising etymologies here!

Buy a Print

Applications open for Genius Northwest – an IRL gaming competition

May 8, 2026 by David Malki !

Last year, I participated in Genius Northwest, a gaming competition inspired by the Korean gameshow The Genius and its ilk.

It’s a reality show without the cameras — a 3-day, all-inclusive weekend retreat structured around a series of challenges and puzzles, in which personalities and dealmaking matter as much as playing games.

It’s truly a remarkable thing. I came in dead last in the competition, but I still had a great time participating.

The event is held annually in the Pacific Northwest (hence the name) and applications are now open to participate in the 2026 competition!

Learn more — and apply — at GeniusNW.com.


Recent blog posts