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6 / 10 Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock ZAFTY This 19th-century word has found new life in modern times as a brand name for a tabletop game company. Back then, however, it was an insult given to
a person who is easily imposed upon—or, in more basic language, SOMEONE YOU’D REFER TO AS A DOORMAT OR PUSHOVER: “I wish he would stop being such a zafty and stand up for himself!” Don’t
miss the surprising origins of the most popular slang words. 7 / 10 Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock RUM PEEPER It may sound like the name of a drink you’d order at a bar, but a rum peeper has
absolutely nothing to do with alcohol. Rather, upper class women in the late 1600s polished their coifs in front of “rum peepers,” which was THE NAME GIVEN TO AN EXQUISITE, SILVER LOOKING
GLASS, OR, AS WELL CALL THEM TODAY, MIRRORS. 8 / 10 Emma Kapotes/Rd.com, iStock CONTUMELIOUS This tongue twister of a word, pronounced “con-TOOM-yoo-lee-us,” is a Middle English word derived
from both French and language. It was often used in literature to refer to SOMEONE WHO IS INSOLENT, OR ARROGANTLY RUDE AND DISRESPECTFUL: In the 1847 novel Jane Eyre, for example, Miss
Ingram pushes the young Adele away with “contumelious epithet.” You won’t find these 10 common English words in any other language.