Feeling groggy?

Last month I mentioned the word origin desk diary I got for Christmas. Well, after a period during which nothing much of interest came up, the roots of the words which featured yesterday and today are definitely worth a mention.

Yesterday's:

"BAZOOKA: In the 1930s in the United States, Bob Burns, a popular radio comedian, invented a musical instrument from a funnel and pieces of stovepipe. He called it a 'bazooka'. During World War II, GIs used this as the inspiration for the nickname for a new antitank weapon with a similar shape".

Today's:

"GROGGY: If you drink a lot of rum, you may get 'groggy'. This word originated with 'grog', the traditional name given to rum in the British Navy. The term dates to the mid 1800s, when British Admiral Vernon made an unpopular change - he ordered that rum rations be diluted with water. The admiral was known as 'Old Grog' because he typically wore clothes made from grogram, a coarse cloth, and his nickname became the source of a new term referring to the watered-down rum".