Author Topic: The random etymology of the day (Read 239981 times)

rivka · « **Reply #1825 on:** October 01, 2014, 10:16:31 AM »

Trying to find the origin of the phrase "Wake up and smell the coffee".

Ann Landers popularized it, but did she invent it?

BlackBlade · « **Reply #1826 on:** October 07, 2014, 10:28:31 AM »

So I wondered how "commute" had come to mean, reducing a ruling or decision, and also to travel to-and-fro on a regular basis.

Link. I enjoy trying to sort out in my head how it might have happened before looking it up. In this instance I had no clue, but after reading the explanation that seems so organic.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1827 on:** October 07, 2014, 10:41:10 AM »

Quote from: rivka on October 01, 2014, 10:16:31 AM

Trying to find the origin of the phrase "Wake up and smell the coffee".

Ann Landers popularized it, but did she invent it?

I have no idea. Phrases can be pretty hard to track down.

rivka · « **Reply #1828 on:** October 07, 2014, 12:34:42 PM »

Indeed. I was hoping you would have better luck -- or better tricks -- than I did.

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #1829 on:** October 23, 2014, 07:43:47 AM »

The word "gossip" comes from the word "godparents", because when a woman was giving birth, she'd be attended by her lady friends who would pass the time dishing.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1830 on:** October 23, 2014, 09:11:48 AM »

That's not quite right. It comes from the word godsibb, which means "godparents". (Sibb meant "relative" and is the same root as in sibling.)

Brinestone · « **Reply #1831 on:** October 29, 2014, 02:24:47 PM »

What's the deal with skirmish and scrimmage? Are they related? They sound Gaelic to me. Are they?

Jonathon · « **Reply #1832 on:** October 29, 2014, 02:27:20 PM »

My first thought was that skirmish at least sounded Scandinavian, but apparently it came from French, which borrowed it from Italian, which borrowed it from German. Scrimmage is indeed related—it's just an alteration of skirmish from the 15th century.

Noemon · « **Reply #1833 on:** November 14, 2014, 04:29:16 PM »

I'm interested in the etymology of the word "barrel". Etymology Online says that it comes from the 12th century Old French word "baril", and notes that the word has cognates in all Romance languages. This, to me, implies one of two things. Either the barrel was invented in the 12th century in a region where Old French was spoken, and the the technology spread from there to all other Romance language-speaking cultures, or there is an older word, probably in Latin, from which all of the languages got their word for barrel. Since barrel technology existed at least the better part of a millennia before the Old French word came into being, I'm guessing the latter. Can you shed any light on it?

Jonathon · « **Reply #1834 on:** November 14, 2014, 05:45:30 PM »

The OED says it goes back to Medieval Latin but is ultimately of unknown origin. The Romance languages certainly all inherited it from Latin, but it's not clear where Latin got it.

Noemon · « **Reply #1835 on:** November 14, 2014, 06:06:30 PM »

Interesting, thanks. I wonder why Etymology Online stopped with Old French.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1836 on:** November 14, 2014, 06:50:18 PM »

The OED does that a lot too. Sometimes they'll just say that something comes from Old French or Latin, and sometimes they'll take it all the way back to Proto-Indo-European. I don't get it.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1837 on:** November 20, 2014, 09:44:01 AM »

The literal meaning of the various parts of the brain, based on their etymology.

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #1838 on:** November 20, 2014, 09:51:27 AM »

The Latin names cracked me up when I learned them in anatomy class. They actually have parts called "innominate" as in innominate vein, innominate artery, and innominate bone, which pretty much means, "We named this artery 'the artery with no name'".

pooka · « **Reply #1839 on:** November 24, 2014, 07:10:09 AM »

I don't think they had any inominates anymore, by this summer. Though I guess there's that chance they didn't get to any of those. But they also were changing the names of a lot of things. Like the corpora quadrigemina was being called the upper and lower colliculi, on the tectal plate.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1840 on:** November 24, 2014, 09:13:07 AM »

From Peter Sokolowski on Twitter:

Quote

'Mariachi' comes from the French 'mariage'; when French ruled Mexico they hired local bands for celebrations.

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #1841 on:** November 24, 2014, 10:11:52 AM »

Quote from: pooka on November 24, 2014, 07:10:09 AM

I don't think they had any inominates anymore, by this summer. Though I guess there's that chance they didn't get to any of those. But they also were changing the names of a lot of things. Like the corpora quadrigemina was being called the upper and lower colliculi, on the tectal plate.

Yeah, they don't really use "inominate" anymore. I still think it's a hot riot that someone thought to name the bone "the bone with no name".

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #1842 on:** November 24, 2014, 10:12:55 AM »

I've been through the desert on an inominate horse.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1843 on:** November 26, 2014, 12:21:20 PM »

Quote from: Tante Shvester on November 24, 2014, 10:12:55 AM

I've been through the desert on an inominate horse.

Can I give this some points?

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1844 on:** November 26, 2014, 12:22:02 PM »

Quote from: Jonathon on November 20, 2014, 09:44:01 AM

The literal meaning of the various parts of the brain, based on their etymology.

This was funny, and reminded me a lot of reading about science in Chinese. Like a glacier is just an ice river. Of course it's an ice river.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1845 on:** November 26, 2014, 12:58:02 PM »

German is pretty great that way too. Gloves are hand-shoes. Thimbles are finger-hats. Bats are flying mice.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1846 on:** November 26, 2014, 01:34:25 PM »

Europeans had to keep pretending that Latin and Greek were smarter ways to say things, though. I like that in Chinese I can read academic articles and they're actually easier to understand than everyday writing. Heaven knows that's not the case in English.

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #1847 on:** November 26, 2014, 01:53:29 PM »

Quote from: Jonathon on November 26, 2014, 12:58:02 PM

German is pretty great that way too. Gloves are hand-shoes. Thimbles are finger-hats. Bats are flying mice.

I had the best time ever at that opera.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1848 on:** November 26, 2014, 02:03:31 PM »

Quote from: Tante Shvester on November 26, 2014, 01:53:29 PM

Quote from: Jonathon on November 26, 2014, 12:58:02 PM
German is pretty great that way too. Gloves are hand-shoes. Thimbles are finger-hats. Bats are flying mice.
I had the best time ever at that opera.

Der Fingerhut?

pooka · « **Reply #1849 on:** November 27, 2014, 09:11:30 AM »

Are socks foot gloves?