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What in tarnation is the origin of "tarnation"?

You might be surprised to learn that "tarnation" is a variant of "eternal." During the 1600s, one meaning of "eternal" was "damned" or "infernal." In Shakespeare's "Othello," for instance, the character Emilia refers to an "eternal villain."

A century later, people started dropping the "e" from the front of "eternal" and pronouncing its "er" as "ar." This created the adjective "tarnal," which acquired the nefarious meaning of "eternal."

During the late 1700s, "tarnal" fused with "damnation" to create the noun "tarnation," a euphemism for "damnation." Some linguists believe "tarnation" might have given rise to "darn," a euphemism for "damn."

The pronunciation of "er" as "ar" also led to the formation of "varsity" and "varmint."

"Varsity" is a variant of "versity," a shortening of "university" that first appeared during the 1500s. In fact, the Brits still use "varsity" to mean "university," while in sports-minded America, "varsity" refers primarily to a principal athletic team of a school, college or university.

Similarly, "varmint" comes from "vermin." Speakers began pronouncing "vermin," which refers to a group of animals collectively, as "varmint" and then started using it to refer to individual animals. So while we would never speak of "a vermin" or "vermins," we do say that Yosemite Sam is chasing "a varmint" or "varmints."

While "vermin" generally refers to insects or small mammals, such as mice and rats, "varmint" is usually reserved for slightly larger mammals or birds -- squirrels, skunks, crows and other pesky critters. ("Critter," by the way, is a variation of "creature." It's a relic from the 1500s when "creature" was pronounced "cray-ter.")

While "tarnal," "varsity" and "varmint" were created by replacing "er" with "ar," the word "ornery" reflects an opposite shift -- from "ar" to "er."

"Ornery" began as a dialectical compression of "ordinary" and originally meant "commonplace, everyday," but soon, through a linguistic process called "pejoration" (deterioration in meaning), it acquired a more negative denotation -- "common, lowly." Eventually "ornery" descended to its present meaning of "cantankerous, disagreeable."

Today, thanks to all these shifts in the pronunciations, spellings and meanings of "er" and "ar" words, the docile mascot of a varsity team, such as a Badger or Gopher, might transform into an ornery varmint who, when the ref blows a call, screams, "Tarnation!"

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Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to WordGuy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

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