Quote Originally Posted by Throbert McGee View Post
And I would guess (but possibly I'm mistaken) that this one might be related to костёр, "a bonfire/campfire"? (Compare with English "to rake/haul someone over the coals" = ругать)
It's a very interesting verb, especially for the English native speakers, because it came from another verb "кастить" (the first meaning is "to soil/dirty"). Possibly, it's close to the English verb "to cuss", because it has the same root (cuss = кас). "Касть" is an ancient word, it means "filth, garbage etc".