The random etymology of the day

[pooka]

Huh. I had no idea that orca was derived from orc.

Wow!

But why is the ear of corn called a cob?  Is it because it's cobbled?  (I fell into the cobbler discussion from many years ago on another thread).

[Tante Shvester]

I was thinking about pedigree, and whether the "ped" part was like the food "ped" or the child "pedo", and figuring that it was probably the latter, because of genealogy, but it turns out it as actually the former and pedigree comes from the French "pied de gru" (crane's foot).

[rivka]

Huh.

[Jonathon]

Huh indeed.

On old manuscripts, "descent" was indicated by a forked sign resembling the branching lines of a genealogical chart; the sign also happened to look like a bird's footprint. On this theory the form was influenced in Middle English by association with degree. This explanation dates back to Skeat and Sweet in the late 1800s. The word obviously is of French origin, and pied de gru is the only Old French term answering to the earliest English forms, but this sense is not attested in Old French (Modern French pédigree is from English). Perhaps it was a fanciful extension developed in Anglo-French. Other explanations are considered untenable.

From the Online Etymology Dictionary

[Tante Shvester]

What is the opposite of contraband?  Proband?

[Tante Shvester]

I was thinking about the phagos in sarcophagus. And wondering what those sarcophagi were eating, and it turns out that they made them out of limestone so that the stone would digest the body.

If that was the point, though, why even bother with a sarcophagus at all.  If you want the body to be decomposed and digested, just leave it out and forget about the stone box.

[Jonathon]

Encyclopedia Britannica says that may not be true:

The original term is of doubtful meaning. Pliny explains that the word denotes a coffin of limestone from the Troad (the region around Troy) which had the property of dissolving the body quickly (Greek sarx, “flesh,” and phagein, “to eat”), but this explanation is questionable; religious and folkloristic ideas may have been involved in calling a coffin a body eater.

[Tante Shvester]

Not only do "shampoo" and "shamrock" lack a common etymology,  they also have nothing to do with "sham".

Nevertheless, I still prefer real rocks to shamrocks, but prefer shampoo to real poo.

[pooka]

This reminds me of an elementary school kid who was admitted to the pediatric ward for putting shampoo on the cat, supposedly with lethal intent.  I always thought that one was kind of dumb.  I guess it could depend on if he planned for the cat to be poisoned by licking its fur.  But the psych eval didn't get into any specifics like that. 

[pooka]

An article using "narc" to mean narcissist caused me to look up:
https://www.etymonline.com/word/narcotic#etymonline_v_2285
It seems there is no relation.

[Jonathon]

I don't think I've encountered "narc" to mean "narcissist".

[rivka]

I have seen it a handful of times recently.

I was very confused the first couple times. Now I just roll my eyes and go on.

Edit: It's been included on the Wiktionary listing for several years. Huh.

Edit2: And there's this discussion on Reddit.

[Tante Shvester]

As a GenX person, I understand "narc" to mean "snitch".

[pooka]

It was the first time I'd seen it, and it was not a fully peer reviewed article.  More of a thesis. 

[Tante Shvester]

The "sub" in substance is the base that supports stuff so that it is sturdy.  Something that is substantial is firm and well-supported.  Now that I realize this, I want flimsy things to be superstantial.

[pooka]

Supercilious?

[Tante Shvester]

The super part is high or raised and the cilious is hair like cilia. Supercilious is a raised eyebrow.

[Tante Shvester]

In law, a tort is a lawsuit where you sue someone for money.  It's the same derivation as torture, which makes sense if you've ever had to partake in a lawsuit.  But it's also the same derivation as tortoise (and turtle), which hardly seems fair to the critters.

Porpoise, however, means "pig fish".