the.com/ejaculate
To suddenly exclaim something, or to suddenly release fluid from the body.
means To suddenly cry out a word or phrase in surprise or excitement, OR to suddenly expel fluid — the English language really did this to us on purpose.
from From Latin 'ejaculari,' to throw or dart out, built from 'e-' (out) plus 'jaculari' (to hurl a javelin, 'jaculum'). English borrowed it in the 1500s for the general sense of 'to hurl out suddenly' — so a person could 'ejaculate' a prayer, a joke, or an insult, meaning to blurt it out sharply. The narrower physiological sense rode the same word a bit later, since it's also a sudden forceful discharge. The old 'exclaim' usage lingered for centuries (you'll catch it in Victorian novels, characters 'ejaculating' bits of dialogue), which is why older texts can read as unintentionally funny to modern eyes.
- older sense
- Originally just meant 'to suddenly exclaim' in print
- root
- Latin eiaculari, to throw out like a javelin
- victorian fiction
- characters constantly ejaculated their surprise, innocently
- modern narrowing
- context collapsed the word to one meaning only