Author Topic: The random etymology of the day (Read 222518 times)

pooka · « **Reply #1650 on:** September 18, 2012, 12:47:56 PM »

Universities are supposed to teach all the subjects and grant all the degrees. This quality of allness is why they are so named.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1651 on:** September 18, 2012, 01:12:56 PM »

Quote from: rivka on September 14, 2012, 12:00:09 PM

Universal is from universe, right? What about university?

Whoops. I knew there was some post somewhere that I'd forgotten to respond to.

Yes, they're all related. Universal is just the adjective form of universe. University comes from the Latin universitas, meaning 'whole' or 'entire number'. Its use as a term for institutions of higher learning comes from Universitas Magistrorum et Scolarium, a name for the University of Paris meaning "community of masters and scholars".

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1652 on:** September 19, 2012, 03:34:25 AM »

So, it basically means ALL THE MASTERS AND SCHOLARS!

BlackBlade · « **Reply #1653 on:** September 19, 2012, 07:40:32 AM »

Jonathon · « **Reply #1654 on:** September 20, 2012, 12:06:15 PM »

I love the last sentence in this etymology of anon.

rivka · « **Reply #1655 on:** September 20, 2012, 01:58:16 PM »

I am only familiar with it from Romeo & Juliet, by which time it already meant "in a minute! stop bugging me!"

Jonathon · « **Reply #1656 on:** September 20, 2012, 02:12:21 PM »

The word soon followed a similar development. In Old English it was sóna and meant, according to the OED, "without delay, forthwith, straightway". It also had no comparative or superlative forms, because they wouldn't have made sense, just as nower and nowest don't make any sense to us now. By Middle English it had morphed into "Within a short time (after a particular point of time specified or implied), before long, quickly" and developed comparative and superlative forms.

rivka · « **Reply #1657 on:** September 20, 2012, 03:03:43 PM »

That is both sad and hilarious.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1658 on:** September 20, 2012, 03:14:03 PM »

True, but it's also simply human nature. Linguists sometimes talk about the euphemism treadmill, but it seems that there are other such treadmills, particularly with emphatic words. People complain about non-literal "literally", but they don't seem to care about non-real "really", non-serious "seriously", non-practical "practically", and so on. The meaning becomes diluted, but then we just pick another word to replace it.

rivka · « **Reply #1659 on:** September 20, 2012, 06:05:54 PM »

Quote from: Jonathon on September 20, 2012, 03:14:03 PM

True, but it's also simply human nature.

Which is often both sad and hilarious.

pooka · « **Reply #1660 on:** September 20, 2012, 08:52:06 PM »

Mmm, I think of "seriously" as meaning seriously, though it is often used ironically.

Now I'm tripping all the balls about the meaning of ironical.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1661 on:** September 20, 2012, 09:07:12 PM »

If it's used ironically, then it doesn't really mean "seriously".

rivka · « **Reply #1662 on:** September 20, 2012, 09:08:11 PM »

Really?

Jonathon · « **Reply #1663 on:** September 20, 2012, 09:08:50 PM »

Seriously.

pooka · « **Reply #1664 on:** September 20, 2012, 10:45:03 PM »

What word in the English language cannot have it's meaning reversed in that fashion?

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1665 on:** September 21, 2012, 02:42:47 AM »

This is lovely conversation.

Carry on.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1666 on:** September 21, 2012, 08:28:53 AM »

Pooka: I'm not sure there is one.

Also, I just thought of another good example of now–soon evolution: by and by, which was used in the Tyndale and King James Bibles to mean "immediately" or "at once".

BlackBlade · « **Reply #1667 on:** September 21, 2012, 08:51:02 AM »

Quote from: Jonathon on September 21, 2012, 08:28:53 AM

Pooka: I'm not sure there is one.

Also, I just thought of another good example of now–soon evolution: by and by, which was used in the Tyndale and King James Bibles to mean "immediately" or "at once".

I think Juliet during the balcony scene with Romeo uses both "anon" and "by and by" with the nurse, when trying to forestall returning to her room.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1668 on:** September 21, 2012, 08:55:02 AM »

Exactly.

"Just a sec! I'll be right there!"

Noemon · « **Reply #1669 on:** September 21, 2012, 07:19:06 PM »

Pants

Noemon · « **Reply #1670 on:** September 24, 2012, 12:35:32 PM »

Is there a relationship between the words "cover" and "over"? I'd be interested in hearing about the etymology of both words.

BlackBlade · « **Reply #1671 on:** September 24, 2012, 01:55:31 PM »

How is 'Why' a question and a filler word?

"Why, I outta slug you!"

"Why, there was so much snow we were completely covered."

What's the etymology there? And can other similar words like who, (I guess we already know about what), where, when, why, or how be used like that?

Jonathon · « **Reply #1672 on:** September 24, 2012, 01:57:26 PM »

Noemon: There's no relation. Cover is from the French cuvrir, which comes from the Latin cooperire, from the intensive prefix com + operire, meaning 'to close or cover'.

Over comes from the Proto-Germanic *uberi, which ultimately comes from the Proto-Indo-European *uper. The Latin super and Greek hyper come from the same root, though I don't know where the s comes from. (Greek words with h often come from PIE words with s; compare Latin sex and sept and Greek hex and hept.)

Interestingly, *uper is the comparative form of *upo, meaning 'under' or 'up from below'. *Upo is the source of sub, hypo, and up.

The Genuine · « **Reply #1673 on:** September 24, 2012, 02:22:09 PM »

Speculating: "That's why something happens."

(Such as John Wayne deciding to duel you. It's a shorthand linking the previously expressed cause, with the effect.)

Noemon · « **Reply #1674 on:** September 24, 2012, 07:24:52 PM »

Very interesting; thanks, Jonathon!