ShopVentriloquism
March 12, 2009 by Online Manager
Filed under Words and Phrases
The word comes from the Latin ventriloquus, which is a compound of venter ’stomach’ and loqui, ’speak’.
It originally referred literally to the phenomenon of speaking from the stomach, particularly as a sign of demonic possession.
The word was linked to the trick of throwing one’s voice at the end of the 18th century and has now lost its former meaning.
