Author Topic: The random etymology of the day (Read 222436 times)

rivka · « **Reply #350 on:** September 27, 2006, 04:33:54 PM »

I know!

Porter · « **Reply #351 on:** September 28, 2006, 04:23:56 PM »

shyster

Jonathon · « **Reply #352 on:** October 31, 2006, 11:05:14 AM »

puppy

From the French poupée, meaning "doll," "puppet," or "plaything." In English it developed the meaning of a small dog used as a plaything. It then came to mean simply a small dog and thus a young dog.

puppet

This comes from the French poupette, meaning "doll." The -ette ending is simply a diminutive ending; the senses are very close to original senses of poupée.

pupil

This word shows the original Latin meaning a little better than the above forms. Pupillus/pupilla meant "orphan," "ward," or "minor"—in other words, a child who was under someone's care. It then developed a specialized sense of a child who is under another's tutelage.

pupa

This is the original Latin root from which the others come. The Latin word meant "girl" or "doll." In modern times it was taken and applied to one of the stages of insect development.

pupil (the other kind)

This one kind of surprised me; I hadn't realized it was connected to the other meanings. Apparently this sense arose from the reflection of yourself you see when you look into someone's eyes; that is, you see a small "doll" or "puppet" of yourself. It seems strange, but ancient Greek used the same word (kore) for both "doll" and "pupil of the eye"; there's also an archaic English expression "to look babies," meaning "to stare into someone's eyes."

rivka · « **Reply #353 on:** October 31, 2006, 11:15:08 AM »

Jonathon · « **Reply #354 on:** October 31, 2006, 12:25:55 PM »

Quote

shyster

Was this a request? I think I must have missed it.

Porter · « **Reply #355 on:** October 31, 2006, 12:29:25 PM »

I don't remember making that request, but let's assume it is.

Jonathon · « **Reply #356 on:** October 31, 2006, 12:32:21 PM »

It's of obscure origin, but it's prossibly an alteration of the German scheisser, meaning "worthless person," which comes from sheisse, which is the German form of the s-word.

pooka · « **Reply #357 on:** October 31, 2006, 01:44:57 PM »

Quote

"to look babies," meaning "to stare into someone's eyes."

Is this like "when you can see your unborn children in her eyes..."?
Or "before you were a twinkle in your daddy's eye".

Porter · « **Reply #358 on:** November 01, 2006, 07:29:18 PM »

"Church"

Rivka said that it has Christian origins. I am curious.

pooka · « **Reply #359 on:** November 02, 2006, 04:16:51 AM »

It's related to the Germanic "Kirke" which is also a word for a ruler or a Lord. I'm not sure I would say it's uniquely Christian in origin. Unless one argues there is a fundamental difference in whether the house of worship belongs to the Lord which the people go to, or if it is a place of assembly for people who themselves belong to God.

rivka · « **Reply #360 on:** November 02, 2006, 07:31:45 AM »

It is uniquely Christian in origin simply in that it was used exclusively by Christians and to describe Christian houses of worship for a very long time.

The generification (which is still mostly in reference to Christian religion and buildings, but not entirely) is only within the last few hundred years, I believe. Even then, I don't think it was used to refer to non-Christian religions until much more recently.

But I could be wrong, of course.

Jonathon?

Jonathon · « **Reply #361 on:** November 02, 2006, 02:02:09 PM »

Apparently its ultimate origins are somewhat disputed, but the most likely source is the Greek kyriakon, meaning "of the Lord" (the Greek word for "Lord" being kyrie). This seems to fit in terms of phonology and semantics, but not necessarily in terms of history. The usual term in Latin was ecclesia, which also came from Greek and is the source of the words for "church" in all the Romance and Celtic languages.

So if the Germanic word for "church" really does come from Greek, it must have been borrowed in the first few centuries AD, because it was already in use by the Angles and Saxons when they invaded Britain. But the Germanic tribes at the time were still pagan, not Christian, so it was not spread by the structure of the early Christian Church.

They would have known what a Christian chuch was, though, because they were frequently in contact with the Roman Empire and often looted churches, so it's not surprising that they would have had a word for it.

The generification of the word is not a recent phenomenon, though. It was used to refer to non-Christian church buildings and to the Christian community from about 800 or 900 AD. It looks like it's been used to refer to non-Christian religious organiations for only a couple hundred years, though.

rivka · « **Reply #362 on:** November 02, 2006, 03:16:36 PM »

Quote

It was used to refer to non-Christian church buildings and to the Christian community from about 800 or 900 AD.

Serious question: what is a "non-Christian church building"?

Quote

It looks like it's been used to refer to non-Christian religious organizations for only a couple hundred years, though.

That's the only part that is truly "generic" to me.

Jonathon · « **Reply #363 on:** November 02, 2006, 03:29:22 PM »

Quote

Quote
It was used to refer to non-Christian church buildings and to the Christian community from about 800 or 900 AD.
Serious question: what is a "non-Christian church building"?

Pagan temples, Muslim mosques, Jewish temples or synagoges, and so on.

rivka · « **Reply #364 on:** November 02, 2006, 03:47:27 PM »

And that usage is really so old?

Huh.

Jonathon · « **Reply #365 on:** November 08, 2006, 05:04:37 PM »

Here's an interesting one I just learned. Daisy comes from the Old English dæges éage ("day's eye"). It's a reference to the sun because of the appearance of the flower, notably the fact that it closes at night.

pooka · « **Reply #366 on:** November 08, 2006, 05:07:57 PM »

Hmm, I didn't know daisies closed at night.

Brinestone · « **Reply #367 on:** November 08, 2006, 06:32:04 PM »

I think I knew that.

rivka · « **Reply #368 on:** November 08, 2006, 07:11:26 PM »

Do daisies not grow in Utah or something? City girl that I am, I certainly knew that.

And not just because of various time-lapse photography I've seen.

Closing
Opening

pooka · « **Reply #369 on:** November 09, 2006, 08:30:55 AM »

My mom didn't have a green thumb. It was not one of the ways in which I felt compelled to rebel against her. And nothing in Utah grows without careful cultivation. Well, except for boxelder-bug trees.

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #370 on:** November 09, 2006, 01:32:12 PM »

Huh. If I were an opthamologist, I'd definitely plant my garden with daisies and irises.

Oh, and Black-Eyed Susans.

Jonathon · « **Reply #371 on:** December 13, 2006, 02:05:59 PM »

Wow. I've been a major slacker on this thread.

read, v.

The verb read comes from the Old English r?dan, which originally had the broader meaning of "to advise, counsel, deliberate, interpret, or discern." It's from the notion of interpreting that we get the modern meaning.

riddle, n.

This comes from the Old English r?dels and originally meant something like "counsel, opinion, or conjecture." The OED isn't quite clear on this, but apparently it took on the meaning of an answer to a puzzle and then shifted to the puzzle itself. At some point people started thinking it was a plural, so they began to drop the -s off the end when using it as a singular.

And here's an interesting note: The Anglo-Saxon king commonly known as Ethelred the Unready was really Æðelræd Unræd. His given name meant "noble counsel," and his nickname means "without counsel" or "indecisive." In other words, his nickname was a pun on his real name and had nothing to do with him being unready; that's simply an (inaccurate) rendition into modern English.

rivka · « **Reply #372 on:** December 13, 2006, 07:24:52 PM »

But is not someone who is indecisive unready?

Porter · « **Reply #373 on:** December 13, 2006, 07:35:53 PM »

Not necessarily.

rivka · « **Reply #374 on:** December 13, 2006, 07:37:30 PM »

He ain't ready to make a decision, that's certain.