2532: spew & puke Nov 18, 2021

Many unpleasant bodily functions will take on multiple euphemisms, and with vomit, two are indeed related etymologically. While the word 'puke' is understood to be imitative to some extent, the exact reference is vague, and has been associated with the German 'pfauchen' (spit) and Dutch 'spugen' (spit), though other cognates here would mean 'blow' or 'puff'. Likewise, the Old English spīwan (vomit; spit) is a cognate, and the origin of 'spew', with also has other associations with spitting. Across languages the two ideas are commonly connected. In the case of 'puke' and 'spew' though, the latter is certainly older.