2577: charm & charisma Jan 3, 2022

The words 'charm' and 'charisma' are not related, though this fact is often confused in particular because of how they are used for certain Biblical translations as it pertains to the Holy Spirit. 'Charisma' is from the Ancient Greek χᾰ́ρῐσμᾰ (khárisma) for 'grace; gift', ultimately from χαίρω (khaírō) meaning 'I am happy'. 'Charm' on the other hand, both as it relates to magic and to personality types comes from the Latin 'carmen' which meant both 'song' and 'incantation', or as it were 'chant' and 'enchant'. Both terms have been used for translating ideas of speaking in tongues or other trance-like experiences.

2542: Roll Tide Nov 28, 2021

Lots of chants don't mean anything, such as the University of Minnesota's "ski u mah" which many believe to be from Lakota but is total gibberish. University of Alabama's 'roll tide' though probably is meaningful, though no one is quite sure what for. The nickname 'Crimson Tide' was used towards the start of the 20th century for the team, though this again is not entirely clear as to why. Whatever the case, the phrase is not trademarked.

2431: cant Aug 17

'Cant' can refer to any whining, empty, or hypocritical speech, or jargon of criminals in particular. It comes from the Latin 'cantāre' (to sing) also leading to English's 'chant', 'cantor' etc.. This switch from referring to a song to referring to this basically unwanted speech due to 'cant' having mostly religious connotations. It was associated strongly with beggars and eventually to a lesser extent with hypocritical religious singing, or at least that done without emotion and thought behind it. Even in the 17th century it was noted for slang for undesirable, later criminal language.