GalacticCactus Forum

Author Topic: The random etymology of the day  (Read 238475 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Tante Shvester

  • Souper Member
  • Super Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 9,868
    • View Profile
    • About Tante
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #875 on: January 21, 2009, 09:00:57 PM »
Because all the parts are joined together, threads of melody and harmony intertwining?


Oh, that's nice.
Fighting thread drift with guilt, reverse psychology, and chicken soup.
Sweet! Law of Moses loopholes! -- Anneke
I love Bones.  -- Sweet Clementine
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef. -- anonymous

Offline rivka

  • Linguistic Anarchist
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,155
    • View Profile
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #876 on: March 04, 2009, 09:36:45 AM »
Are "lot" -- as in, a piece of land -- and "allot" related? The equivalent words are in Hebrew, and I realized I was assuming they were in English too. But didn't actually know.
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin

Offline Jonathon

  • Evil T-Rex
  • Administrator
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 24,680
  • This is the darkest timeline
    • View Profile
    • GalacticCactus
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #877 on: March 04, 2009, 09:45:40 AM »
Yup. Lot comes straight from Old English, while allot comes by way of Old French, which borrowed it from Germanic. Allot comes from à + loter, meaning "to divide into lots".
You underestimate my ability to take things seriously!

Offline rivka

  • Linguistic Anarchist
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,155
    • View Profile
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #878 on: March 04, 2009, 09:57:32 AM »
Occasionally my etymological assumptions are actually correct. ;)

(This came up because my youngest typed something yesterday, and I was explaining to her why even though "allot" didn't have a squiggly underline, she had still misspelled it.)
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin

Offline Tante Shvester

  • Souper Member
  • Super Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 9,868
    • View Profile
    • About Tante
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #879 on: March 04, 2009, 11:14:23 AM »
Quote
Are "lot" -- as in, a piece of land -- and "allot" related? The equivalent words are in Hebrew, and I realized I was assuming they were in English too. But didn't actually know.
Purim on the mind?
Fighting thread drift with guilt, reverse psychology, and chicken soup.
Sweet! Law of Moses loopholes! -- Anneke
I love Bones.  -- Sweet Clementine
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef. -- anonymous

Offline rivka

  • Linguistic Anarchist
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,155
    • View Profile
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #880 on: March 04, 2009, 11:15:01 AM »
:lol:

That too.
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin

Offline Neutros the Radioactive Dragon

  • Radiant Reptile
  • Dragons
  • Super Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1,653
    • View Profile
    • scatterfilter
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #881 on: March 04, 2009, 11:35:27 AM »

Offline Porter

  • ruining funny with facts
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,333
  • long time lurker, first time poster
    • View Profile
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #882 on: March 04, 2009, 11:54:42 AM »
I don't recognize that picture, but I know what handful of films it has to come from.
Tomorrow Poster
Sooner or later, this forum is going to max out on hyperliteralness.

Offline Neutros the Radioactive Dragon

  • Radiant Reptile
  • Dragons
  • Super Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1,653
    • View Profile
    • scatterfilter
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #883 on: March 04, 2009, 11:57:24 AM »
Waiting for Purim.

Edit:
Or was it Home for Purim?
« Last Edit: March 04, 2009, 11:58:33 AM by Neutros the Radioactive Dragon »

Offline saxon75

  • Super Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1,081
    • View Profile
    • http://www.sakeriver.com
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #884 on: March 04, 2009, 12:05:32 PM »
The film-in-film was Home for Purim.  Until it was Home for Thanksgiving.
Bah weep granah weep ninni bong.

Offline Neutros the Radioactive Dragon

  • Radiant Reptile
  • Dragons
  • Super Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1,653
    • View Profile
    • scatterfilter
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #885 on: March 04, 2009, 01:23:07 PM »
That was it.

Offline goofy

  • Veteran Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 154
    • View Profile
    • http://
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #886 on: March 05, 2009, 07:58:01 AM »
Quote
Because all the parts are joined together, threads of melody and harmony intertwining?


Oh, that's nice.
Perhaps.

????? meant "sew" but also "string or link together, unite". ??????? was "Epic composition" but also "rigmarole".

Offline Tante Shvester

  • Souper Member
  • Super Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 9,868
    • View Profile
    • About Tante
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #887 on: May 01, 2009, 03:22:18 AM »
What's the etymology of the suffix "-hold"?  As in "threshold", "stronghold", and "household" and, um, I can't think of any others.  There's probably more, though.  Is it related to the hold of a ship?
« Last Edit: May 01, 2009, 06:53:18 AM by Tante Shvester »
Fighting thread drift with guilt, reverse psychology, and chicken soup.
Sweet! Law of Moses loopholes! -- Anneke
I love Bones.  -- Sweet Clementine
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef. -- anonymous

Offline The Genuine

  • Ambcloacador of Right On
  • Super Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3,570
    • View Profile
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #888 on: May 01, 2009, 09:00:39 AM »
I would guess that "hold" in that contexts comes from the meaning of fortress, grip/grasp, etc.  "Hold" of a ship probably comes from the same meaning.  Basically a strongpoint.
I think Jesse's right.

 -- Jonathon

Offline Jonathon

  • Evil T-Rex
  • Administrator
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 24,680
  • This is the darkest timeline
    • View Profile
    • GalacticCactus
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #889 on: May 01, 2009, 10:30:35 AM »
The OED says that threshold has an obscure etymology; in Old English it was therscold (the sc was pronounced sh), meaning that the h sound was not originally there. In household it just means "holding", and in stronghold it has more of a sense of "fortified place", but both of those derive from the verb hold.
You underestimate my ability to take things seriously!

Offline Tante Shvester

  • Souper Member
  • Super Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 9,868
    • View Profile
    • About Tante
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #890 on: May 12, 2009, 08:48:37 PM »
I just found out today that "bonfire" has nothing to do with "bon" meaning "good" (from the French and those lovely bonbons), but really means "bone fire", as in a big fire that you cremate folk on.  I suspect I've been doing bonfires wrong my whole life, in that case.

We'd sometimes have a bonfire in summer camp, but we never threw any of the kids or counselors on, that I can recall.
Fighting thread drift with guilt, reverse psychology, and chicken soup.
Sweet! Law of Moses loopholes! -- Anneke
I love Bones.  -- Sweet Clementine
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef. -- anonymous

Offline The Genuine

  • Ambcloacador of Right On
  • Super Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3,570
    • View Profile
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #891 on: May 12, 2009, 09:18:46 PM »
That reminds me of how much I like the word "cremains."
I think Jesse's right.

 -- Jonathon

Offline Jonathon

  • Evil T-Rex
  • Administrator
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 24,680
  • This is the darkest timeline
    • View Profile
    • GalacticCactus
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #892 on: May 28, 2009, 09:44:48 AM »
I just learned that petty comes from the French petit. I saw a reference to petit larceny and it suddenly hit me. (I looked it up in the OED to confirm.)
You underestimate my ability to take things seriously!

Offline rivka

  • Linguistic Anarchist
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,155
    • View Profile
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #893 on: May 28, 2009, 03:21:45 PM »
That makes so much sense!
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin

Offline The Genuine

  • Ambcloacador of Right On
  • Super Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3,570
    • View Profile
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #894 on: July 01, 2009, 01:39:48 PM »
Paint yourself into a corner?

Zugzwang!
I think Jesse's right.

 -- Jonathon

Offline Jonathon

  • Evil T-Rex
  • Administrator
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 24,680
  • This is the darkest timeline
    • View Profile
    • GalacticCactus
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #895 on: July 01, 2009, 02:56:58 PM »
What a weird word.
You underestimate my ability to take things seriously!

Offline Tante Shvester

  • Souper Member
  • Super Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 9,868
    • View Profile
    • About Tante
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #896 on: July 01, 2009, 08:49:35 PM »
A weird and wonderful word.  It would rule in both Scrabble and Hangman.
Fighting thread drift with guilt, reverse psychology, and chicken soup.
Sweet! Law of Moses loopholes! -- Anneke
I love Bones.  -- Sweet Clementine
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef. -- anonymous

Offline rivka

  • Linguistic Anarchist
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,155
    • View Profile
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #897 on: July 01, 2009, 09:29:15 PM »
Not, not in Scrabble.
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin

Offline Jonathon

  • Evil T-Rex
  • Administrator
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 24,680
  • This is the darkest timeline
    • View Profile
    • GalacticCactus
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #898 on: July 01, 2009, 09:38:49 PM »
You could play it if you had a blank and if one of those letters was already on the board.
You underestimate my ability to take things seriously!

Offline rivka

  • Linguistic Anarchist
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,155
    • View Profile
The random etymology of the day
« Reply #899 on: July 01, 2009, 09:48:58 PM »
Good point. I was thinking about there being only one Z.
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin