718: Paperclip and trombone Nov 25, 2016

The French word for 'paperclip' is 'trombone' in reference to the similar loops that the Gem Manufacturing Company design for paperclips, still used today, has to the instrument. In fact, this is also why the Swedish word for 'paperclip' is 'gem'. Moreover, in English, 'trumpet', 'trombone', 'tuba', and 'tube' all come from the Latin 'tuba' meaning 'trumpet' which at the time was just a straight horn. Before they were called 'trombones' in English, the instrument went by the name of 'sackbut', which was originally a French word, 'saquebute' meaning, 'hook for pulling a man off a horse', but in the 1700's Italian music became popular in England, and so the Italian word was adopted.