Standing in my kitchen, waiting for the microwave to ping, a couple of interesting words entered my rather numb skull.
Loggerheads. Recusant.
I have no idea why these words should occur to me while contemplating a snack of Bombay Potato on unbuttered bread. I do like words, though. There are certain ones that just seem to resonate with me and give me pleasure.
From perusal of the OED, at loggerheads, as used in being in disagreement or dispute with someone, may have a connection to the various types of creature known as loggerheads due to them having large heads. Logger is an old dialect word meaning “a large wooden block used to hobble horses”. Thus adding the word head infers having a head like a large lump of wood, which fits both cases. OTOH the object a loggerhead (an iron instrument with a ball-shaped end, heated and used for melting pitch etc.) may be completely unconnected.
Recusant merely comes from the Latin Recusare: to refuse. No fancy etymology there.
I’m here all week. Have you tried the quinoa and kale salad?