1441: Semantic Transfer: point and prick Nov 21, 2018

People are very good at finding patterns and other relations such that any overlapping connotation an idea has can be tacked onto the relevant word. Like how 'point' can denote a specific position, ideologically or physically and geographically, but originally had the meaning of something that tapers sharply, 'pick' came from 'prick'. Indeed, both 'point' and 'pick' mean 'something being pointed to' or 'something being pricked' (i.e. gestured at by poking). This sort of semantic transfer will naturally happen over time in any language.

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