Nino’s Signs a Death Pledge

This past week I finally completed a 3 month long journey towards homeowership and signed off on my mortage. And it got me to thinking, "why is it called a mortgage?" So after some lengthy research (Googled it) I found out where the word 'mortgage' comes from.

The word 'Mortgage' is an Old French word derived from two Latin words, 'mort' which means 'dead' or 'death',  and 'gage' which means 'pledge'. In other words, mortgage is a "death-pledge" that says you will honor your obligation until death. That's why most mortgages are between 15 and 30 years with most being the 30 year kind, and most people end up working themselves to DEATH trying to pay it off.

What other words do we use on a daily basis that have ominous origins? Let me know of some others that you come up with and I'll read them during next week's show!