Author Topic: The random etymology of the day (Read 238316 times)

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #400 on:** January 23, 2007, 11:40:06 AM »

You've got to be kidding.

Porter · « **Reply #401 on:** January 23, 2007, 11:44:23 AM »

Actually, we just found out last night that the goat that we're buying in a week is indeed pregnant, so we'll have some new kids in June.

Her name is Vikkie, but I think we'll call her Queen Victoria.

Jonathon · « **Reply #402 on:** January 23, 2007, 12:07:02 PM »

Apparently some people felt that their children acted like young goats. *shrug* Originally (late 1500s) it was not very polite, but it eventually (1800s) it became acceptable though still informal.

pooka · « **Reply #403 on:** January 24, 2007, 08:36:11 AM »

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Actually, we just found out last night that the goat that we're buying in a week is indeed pregnant, so we'll have some new kids in June.

I guess the six month rule... was that for individual animals or new types of animals? Did the wooter (or whatever it's called) get lonely?

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Sesquicentennial is unrelated. The prefix ultimately comes from semisqui, meaning "half and." But some other sequi words are sequence, second, consequence, obsequious, seque, pursue, ensue, sect, persecute, and execute.

What about "Sasquatch?" Maybe that's what OSC will name the sequel of Pastwatch. [/smug snicker]

Porter · « **Reply #404 on:** January 24, 2007, 08:49:42 AM »

The six month rule is flexible. I guess there's an implied "of thumb" in there.

The wether is very lonely and needs a companion, while we've found an excellent dairy goat that we can actually afford.

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #405 on:** January 24, 2007, 11:33:41 AM »

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The wether is very lonely and needs a companion...

The wether here is chilly and damp.

kojabu · « **Reply #406 on:** January 27, 2007, 03:50:12 PM »

One of the classes I'm taking this semester is English Words: Histories and Mysteries. Each class he assigns us a word or a few words to look up the etymology of. For Monday, we have the following task:

The astronomer - a man of sterling character - sent flowers to the starlet not considering that his own constellation of desires could lead to disaster.

We have to find the etymologies of the bolded words and use that to figure out what kind of flowers were sent. Should be fun and if anyone else wants to try, we can compare answers.

pooka · « **Reply #407 on:** January 27, 2007, 03:54:16 PM »

Aren't Asters a kind of flower?

kojabu · « **Reply #408 on:** January 27, 2007, 04:00:38 PM »

All the etymologies relate back to stars, but I don't know where to go from there. What's the etymology of aster?

Edit: aster also means star. hmmm.

pooka · « **Reply #409 on:** January 27, 2007, 04:06:00 PM »

I didn't know "consider" and "desire" went back to Astra.

kojabu · « **Reply #410 on:** January 27, 2007, 04:07:26 PM »

Neither did I. Words are fun!

pooka · « **Reply #411 on:** January 27, 2007, 04:10:06 PM »

Aw, c'mon, you gonna make me look it up?

kojabu · « **Reply #412 on:** January 27, 2007, 04:11:31 PM »

Oh I didn't know you wanted me to post up their etymologies. I can though, if you want.

pooka · « **Reply #413 on:** January 27, 2007, 04:53:54 PM »

Well, both of my attempts to locate an etymology site landed me on mortgage offers.

kojabu · « **Reply #414 on:** January 27, 2007, 08:03:24 PM »

I use this site for mine.

Consider: 1375, from O.Fr. considerer, from L. considerare "to look at closely, observe," lit. "to observe the stars," from com- "with" + sidus (gen. sideris) "constellation." Perhaps a metaphor from navigation, but more likely reflecting Roman obsession with divination by astrology. Tucker doubts the connection with sidus, however, since it is "quite inapplicable to desiderare," and suggests derivation instead from the root of Eng. side meaning "stretch, extend," and a sense for the full word of "survey on all sides" or "dwell long upon." Considerable "pretty large" is from 1651; considerate "thoughtful of others" is from 1700.

Desire: c.1230, from O.Fr. desirer, from L. desiderare "long for, wish for," original sense perhaps "await what the stars will bring," from the phrase de sidere "from the stars," from sidus (gen. sideris) "heavenly body, star, constellation" (but see consider). Noun sense of "lust" is first recorded c.1340.

pooka · « **Reply #415 on:** January 30, 2007, 08:24:34 AM »

Thanks! That's funny that they solicit word sponsors. I wonder how many people have sponsored "defenestration."

Porter · « **Reply #416 on:** February 12, 2007, 08:08:30 AM »

Damper.

In addition to referring to moisture amounts, this word is also, IIRC, used to describe non-moiusture-related ways of putting out fires, such as the flue (sp?) in a fireplace.

What's their connection?

Jonathon · « **Reply #417 on:** February 12, 2007, 09:09:32 AM »

I always assumed they were unrelated, but I guess I was wrong. The noun damp originally meant "noxious vapor or gas" and then broadened to mean "fog or mist" and then "moisture." It also took on some more metaphorical meanings like "a dazed or stupefied condition," "a state of dejection," and "a check or discouragement."

The verb developed from the noun with its variety of senses. Today it's most commonly used to mean things like "stifle," "restrain," "extinguish," and "check." When talking of making things wet, we usually use the verb dampen, which has spun off from damp.

Porter · « **Reply #418 on:** February 24, 2007, 08:27:55 AM »

In English and Portugese, the same word (second or segundo) is used to mean 1 sixtieth of a minute as well as 2nd.

Por que, por favor?

Jonathon · « **Reply #419 on:** February 24, 2007, 03:47:08 PM »

This is interesting, and I only ever knew half of it. The second second, as I said a little while back, comes from sequi-, meaning "following." So it's simply the one that follows the first.

The time second was originally known as the "second minute," meaning just "second small (division of an hour)." The "prime minute" or first small division of an hour, is what we call a minute today. It turns out that neither second nor minute have anything to do with time.

Porter · « **Reply #420 on:** February 24, 2007, 06:10:20 PM »

Wow. That is interesting.

So minute (the time increment) comes from minute (tiny).

Jonathon · « **Reply #421 on:** February 24, 2007, 06:33:49 PM »

Si, senhor.

Porter · « **Reply #422 on:** February 24, 2007, 08:16:31 PM »

So, what language did this happen in that we'd see it in multiple modern European languages?

Jonathon · « **Reply #423 on:** February 25, 2007, 07:51:52 AM »

Medieval Latin.

Jonathon · « **Reply #424 on:** February 28, 2007, 11:34:50 AM »

I don't think I've done this one before, so forgive me if I have. For some reason it occurred to me the other day that break and fracture are likely related, and sure enough, they are. Both trace back to the Proto-Indo-European *bhreg, meaning "break." In Proto-Germanic the word lost the aspiration on the /b/ and devoiced the /g/ to /k/.

In Latin the /bh/ became /f/, yielding the root frag-. It's this root that gives rise to fraction, fracture, fragile, fractal, refract, fragment, suffrage, and frangible. Here's a more complete list.