Where does “trigger-happy” come from?
trigger-happy (English) comes from English trigger, from Dutch trekker, from Dutch trekken, from Middle Dutch trecken, from Old Dutch trecken, from Proto-West Germanic *trakkjan, from Proto-Germanic trakjaną, from Proto-Germanic trekaną — to pull; to drag, scrape.
trigger-happy (English): Having a tendency or desire to shoot a firearm...
Definitions
- Having a tendency or desire to shoot a firearm...
Ancestry of “trigger-happy”, step by step
trigger-happy traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English trigger
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | trigger | A finger-operated lever used to fire a gun; A... |
| 2 | Dutch | trekker | puller; trigger; tractor |
| 3 | Dutch | trekken | to pull, to draw; to manage, to have the strength... |
| 4 | Middle Dutch | trecken | to pull or draw to oneself; to go to another... |
| 5 | Old Dutch | trecken | — |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | *trakkjan | to drag |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | trakjaną | to drag |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | trekaną | to push; to drag; to scratch |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | dreg- | to pull; to drag, scrape |
via English happy
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | happy | Having a feeling arising from a consciousness of... |
| 2 | Middle English | happy | fortunate, happy |
| 3 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 4 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |