Author Topic: The random etymology of the day (Read 238033 times)

pooka · « **Reply #1700 on:** September 25, 2012, 11:50:27 PM »

Huh. I guess if you didn't know cunicula was Latin for bunny, Bunnicula must not make any sense at all. Or maybe he explains it in the books.

BlackBlade · « **Reply #1701 on:** September 26, 2012, 03:00:30 AM »

Perhaps you were joking, (it's 4:00am my humor systems aren't activated) but Bunnicula is a juxtaposition of 'bunny' and 'Dracula'.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1702 on:** September 26, 2012, 04:21:40 AM »

Quote from: pooka on September 25, 2012, 11:50:27 PM

Huh. I guess if you didn't know cunicula was Latin for bunny, Bunnicula must not make any sense at all. Or maybe he explains it in the books.

I had this same train of thought. And then I was like "oh yeah, Dracula." But it would be impressive if he had put in enough research to find out how to say bunny in Latin.

Ela · « **Reply #1703 on:** September 26, 2012, 08:36:55 PM »

Quote from: rivka on September 25, 2012, 01:58:18 PM

But we're talking about the source of the expressions, no?

And the negative view can be perpetuated long after the need for thrift has been overcome.

True.

pooka · « **Reply #1704 on:** October 04, 2012, 10:54:05 AM »

It's both cunicula with a b and Dracula with a bunn. That's why it's cool. Or doubly not so, depending on your attitude towards puns.

Noemon · « **Reply #1705 on:** November 09, 2012, 10:18:30 PM »

When I was a kid, my parents used the word "gunch" as a verb meaning "to complain bitterly". They basically used it as an alternative to the word "bitch". I was wondering, earlier today, if it was a real word or not. Googling it, I came up with an Urban Dictionary entry that claimed that it was a particularly foul slang term for "vagina.", and a claim that it was a term coined by some MIT model train club in the late 50s or early 60s, which used the term to mean "to push, prod, or poke at a device that has almost (but not quite) produced the desired result".

Does the word exist in the OED? If so, what defintion is given for it? Was my parents use of the term unique to our family?

Jonathon · « **Reply #1706 on:** November 09, 2012, 10:24:08 PM »

It's not in the OED, but slang terms have a way of flying under the radar. It might be in the Dictionary of American Regional English, but I don't have a copy.

pooka · « **Reply #1707 on:** November 14, 2012, 06:48:07 PM »

How is the Urban dictionary composed? It seems like a lot of the uses are one-offs.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1708 on:** November 14, 2012, 07:11:33 PM »

It's like Wikipedia but without any semblance of quality control. It's entirely user-generated.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1709 on:** November 15, 2012, 02:12:51 AM »

As one can gather by searching one's name.

rivka · « **Reply #1710 on:** February 07, 2013, 06:19:44 PM »

I was just discussing creative threats (to use on students) with our history instructor. Given his subject, we considered both the guillotine and defenestration (among other options). We discussed the origin of the word "defenestration", which I know comes from the Latin word for window, fenestra. But he thinks the word for glass, vitrum, (related to vitreous (like in the eye)) also derives from the same word, with a v/f substitution.

Is that possible? Likely?

Jonathon · « **Reply #1711 on:** February 07, 2013, 07:05:42 PM »

I can't find anything definitive about the etymology of either word beyond the Latin fenestra and vitrum. Based on phonological grounds alone, I'd say there's zero chance the two words are related. Late Latin /v/ derives from an earlier /w/. Furthermore, I don't believe /v/ ever alternates with /f/ in Latin like it sometimes does in English, and there's no reason why it would alternate in the same environment in different words.

Otherwise, the words have nothing in common besides /tr/ in the middle. You have to explain the consonant deletions in vitrum along with the vowel changes. Plus, vitrum is neuter second declension, while fenestra is feminine first declension. It's weird for related nouns to switch gender and declension, though it's not impossible. A few sources also say that fenestra is probably from Etruscan, while vitrum may have originally meant 'woad' and then came to be used to describe glass later.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1712 on:** February 07, 2013, 08:03:59 PM »

I sometimes forget that my friends are smarter than me.

rivka · « **Reply #1713 on:** February 07, 2013, 08:17:52 PM »

Thanks, Jonathon.

"Woad", the blue stuff?

Jonathon · « **Reply #1714 on:** February 07, 2013, 10:00:16 PM »

Quote from: rivka on February 07, 2013, 08:17:52 PM

"Woad", the blue stuff?

Yup. And you're welcome.

rivka · « **Reply #1715 on:** February 07, 2013, 10:02:16 PM »

Wait, wait, wait. How do you get from blue dye to glass?

Jonathon · « **Reply #1716 on:** February 07, 2013, 10:46:52 PM »

Glass is slightly bluish-green? Don't ask me, I'm not an ancient Roman!

The etymologies of color terms can be pretty weird. The English blue might be related to the Latin flavus 'yellow'. Blank, black, and bleach probably come from the same stem. Burnish is apparently from the same stem as brown.

rivka · « **Reply #1717 on:** February 07, 2013, 11:12:18 PM »

Quote from: Jonathon on February 07, 2013, 10:46:52 PM

Glass is slightly bluish-green? Don't ask me, I'm not an ancient Roman!

rivka · « **Reply #1718 on:** February 11, 2013, 12:01:08 PM »

Our history professor says thanks, and is impressed by how exhaustive your investigation was.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1719 on:** February 11, 2013, 12:15:12 PM »

He's very welcome.

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #1720 on:** March 25, 2013, 03:27:34 AM »

Alley-oop (or is it allez-oop?). Such a funny word. Whence and why.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1721 on:** March 25, 2013, 09:03:42 AM »

Huh. Here's what the OED says:

Quote

French allez-hop, interjection (19th cent. or earlier) < allez , imperative of aller to go (see allons int.) + hop , expressive word, of imitative origin (1652 as houp ; compare Middle French houper , verb (end of the 14th cent.); compare houp-la int.

It originally meant "Get up!" or "Go on!" and it dates to 1917 in English.

dkw · « **Reply #1722 on:** March 25, 2013, 03:50:01 PM »

Isn't that still what it means?

Jonathon · « **Reply #1723 on:** March 25, 2013, 04:46:15 PM »

It's taken on some additional meanings, like a move in basketball where someone lobs up the ball and someone else jumps ups and dunks it. I don't know if I've ever heard it used to mean "Get up!"

dkw · « **Reply #1724 on:** March 25, 2013, 05:25:14 PM »

I think of it as more "up you go!" like when giving a kid a boost. But I didn't remember the basketball definition.