361: Romance Dec 4, 2015

Although some may regard French or Italian to be the "sexiest language", the tie to romance has nothing to do with the fact that the two are Romance languages. Our modern noun, 'romance' originally denoted the vernacular of Latin, as opposed to works. In its early use, the word denoted vernacular verse on the theme of chivalry, and only in the mid 17th century did the sense ‘genre centered on romantic love’ come around.