QMy dictionary says that the word “sass” as in “back talk” comes from the word “sauce.” Can you explain the relationship between these words? – S.N., Adams, Mass.

A: “Sass” developed from a pronunciation shift involving the “au” sound in words like “sauce” and “sausage.” By the end of the 17th century, this shift meant that some Englishmen were pronouncing “sauce” to rhyme with “pass.” This pronunciation was brought to the American colonies, where the spelling “sas” appears for “sauce” by 1775.

This word differed not only in pronunciation but also in meaning from what we now think of as sauce: It usually denoted a side dish of vegetables or stewed fruit rather than a liquid garnish. In the 19th-century United States, the side dishes were “long sass” or “long sauce” (carrots, parsnips and beets) and “short sass” or “short sauce” (potatoes, onions and turnips). A suggestion of these old uses can still be seen in “applesauce” and “cranberry sauce.” It was also in the 19th century that “sauce” and “sass” came to be used figuratively to mean “impudent speech.” Both words – especially “sass” – are still used that way, and their adjective derivatives “saucy” and “sassy” also survive.

Readers may send questions to Merriam-Webster’s Wordwatch, P.O. Box 281, 47 Federal St., Springfield, MA 01102.