2222: How 'Issue' Became a *Problem* Jan 14, 2021
The word 'issue' is gradually taking on more negative connotations from simply meaning 'topic of concern' to 'matter of difficulty'. This process is nothing new however, as seen in the word 'problem'. There are still neutral senses of that word such as in 'math problem' (some people may see that as personally negative but that feeling is extralinguistic). Historically, the word meant anything put forth as a matter of discussion, and its constituent elements 'pro-' (forward) '*-blem' (from Greek 'ballein' meaning 'throw') is also related to 'ballet', 'ballistics', and 'symbol'. In a semantic sense, it is also related even to 'promise' insofar as that comes from the same meaning in Latin 'pro-' and 'mittere' (to send; throw) or in other words something that was sent out beforehand.
2221: What 'Waffle' Can Teach about Phonology Jan 13, 2020
The word 'waffles' can actually teach a fair amount about general phonological principles. First off, while it is from a Germanic root meaning 'honeycomb' (cf. German 'Wabe') and ultimately related to 'weave, it is also related to the word 'wafer' and 'goffer': two other dessert foods, directly related. This shows the relation as is often found between [l] and [r], but also [g] and [w], which often shift in Germanic languages, but elsewhere too as seen in the French 'gaufre' (wafer). [g], as a voiced velar consonant, often does assimilate to an approximant (a consonant with certain vocalic qualities like [w]) or to a palatal one like [j] such as in the Old English 'geolu' turning into 'yellow'.
As a side-note, 'waffle' is actually not related to the verb 'waffle', as in "to talk foolish", usually in a frenetic way which is related to the word 'wave' and 'waft', relating to one's hand-gestures.
2220: House of Orange: Not from the Color Jan 12, 2021
The old Dutch Republic flag had an orange stripe, and bred orange carrots to celebrate the House of Orange. In truth, the color, named for the fruit, has nothing to do with this dynasty. Originally beginning in southern France known in Provençal Occitan as 'Aurenja', this group was actually took the name from a settlement named after a Celtic deity, Arausio. Spiritually, this was connected with water, so if anything the color associated with the House of Orange could be blue. That said, even Protestantism is often associated with the color orange because of the support from this Dutch principality in the religious wars of the time.
2219: Finnish Borrowing from Itself—Jan 11, 2021
Finnish is known for taking on lots of loan words, but it has even loaned some of its own, sort of. On the water by Finland’s capital lies Iso Huopalahti (felt bay), which was earlier Haapalaksi, with ‘-laksi’ being an older form of ‘lahti’ and ‘haapa’ means ‘aspen’. Note that both ‘huopa’ (felt) and ‘haapa’ (aspen) both borrow from Germanic roots for those words. While changing a name from Huopalahti to Haapalaksi might not seem so crazy, the reason for this comes from the Swedish name ‘Hoplax’—the area is bilingual—which comes from ‘Haapalaksi’. This means that Huopalahti [Finnish] comes from Hoplax [Swedish, a Germanic language], from Haapalaksi [Finnish] ultimately from another Germanic word, though this last point is not strictly related. This does happen in other languages too, such as the French ‘biftèque’, a direct loan of the English ‘beefsteak’, with ‘beef’ once replacing the (Old) English ‘cū‘ (cow).
2218: neat Jan 10, 2021
The word ‘neat’ today usually refers to something being tidy, orderly, or even efficient, but this is not how it started. It comes from Latin ‘nitidus’ meaning ‘shine’. Indeed, up until the 16th century the word ‘neat’ meant ‘bright’, though that sense is now lost here but still found in the less common adjective ‘nitid’. It is also a doublet of the adjective ‘net’ as in ‘net profit’, both having the sense of ‘pure; distilled; uncluttered’ similar to describing an alcoholic drink without ice. This is also related to the German ‘nett’ meaning ‘nice’,
2217: 'piping' hot Jan 9, 2021
The phrase 'piping hot' is pretty common, but the pipes in question might not be immediately evident. This is probably not how the word would be used today, but the phrase is attested since the 14th century from Chaucer:
He sente hir pyment meeth and spiced ale
And wafres pipyng hoot out of the glede.
[He sent her sweetened mead and well-spiced ale
And waffles piping hot out of the fire]
It is generally understood these days that the 'piping' in question is in reference to a sizzling or boiling sound from cooking likened to musical pipes.
2213: pharaoh Jan 5, 2021
Although we might think of 'pharaoh' as a title that is otherwise sort of meaningless like 'king' or 'earl'—though in truth even though have an etymological reason—natively it made sense. 'Pharaoh' instead comes to English from the Hebrew פרעה (parōh) and even at this point it was basically meaningless, though some connect it with פרע meaning '(to) pay'. In Egyptian, the word was "pr ꜥꜣ" (estimated as 'par-aa') meaning literally 'big palace'. Indeed, the word originally literally referred to the residence, and not the person, but much like if someone were to say "news from the White House" to refer to the president of the USA, this got adopted as the general term for the ruler.
2212: cushy and cushion Jan 4, 2021
'Cushy' and 'cushion', while they look similar, sound similar, and have an obvious overlap in the meaning related to comfort, aren’t related. 'Cushy' comes from Persian 'ḵuš' meaning 'pleasure', and only entered English through the period of British control of India. 'Cushion', meanwhile, comes from the Latin word for 'hip', 'coxa', as a reference to specifically a seat-cushion. Other types of cushions, such as a 'cubital' likewise comes from the name for another part of the body, the elbow', from 'cubitus', also the origin of the measurement 'cubit', i.e. the length of a forearm.
2211: Mythical Explanations behind the Ionian Sea Jan 3, 2021
Ionia is an ancient region of Greek people, and some might assume that the Ionian Sea is connected to this in some way, but this is not necessarily true. The etymology for the name of the sea is actually unclear, especially since the region of Ionia was in modern day Turkey (Anatolia specifically) and other islands in the Aegean Sea, on the opposite side of Greek to the Ionian Sea. Even ancient historians and writers including Aeschylus were unsure about this, and gave mythical explanations including the idea that the mythical figure Io swam across it, or that the Ionians themselves had originally migrated from there, though this is unclear. Another mythical idea is that it is named for Ionius, whose father also has a mythical etymology associated with him (i.e. Adrias and the Adriatic Sea) but this is also not considered true.
2209: How 'Caramel' and 'Cannon' are Related through a Semitic Root Jan 1, 2021
The word 'caramel' and 'cane' in English may actually be related through a root found in Biblical Hebrew. Indeed, the list of related words would also include 'canal', 'channel', 'cannon', and 'canon'. This is because while the '-mel' of 'caramel' comes from the Latin word for honey (mel), the 'cara-' most like comes from the Ancient Greek κᾰ́ννᾱ (kánnā) from a Semitic root also leading to the Hebrew קנה (kanë) which as a verb means 'to take' but as a noun refers to a hollow tube, usually meaning 'reed' or 'windpipe'. This sense of a hollow stick was retained in the English words mentioned above like 'cannon' or 'cane' (e.g. sugarcane) etc.. 'Canon', a more conceptual sort of thing usually denoting cultural or especially literary and artistic collections might seem odd on that list, but the original sense of 'canon' was 'standard' or 'measured' in the literal sense of a measuring stick. The way this transformed into ‘cara-’ is also not immediately obvious, but in Greek the [r] became an [n] and in Latin this ‘cannamellis’ before morphing into ‘calamellus’, where in Spanish the [l] developed into an [r], which are fairly close sounds.
For more on how those sounds morph: see this on kiSwahili.
2208: Brazilian Demonyms with São Dec 31, 2020
While there are some famous exceptions, usually the way to form a demonym—i.e. the term for a people of a certain place—is just to add one of a few suffixes like -er, -(i)an, or -ite. In a number of Brazilian names with São (saint) this is more complicated. For instance, while São Paulo goes to 'Paulistano', São Luís goes to 'Ludovicense', but São Carlos goes to 'Sãocarlense' or 'Carlopolitano'. This is counter to Spanish wherein 'Santa' (saint) usually stays at the beginning and other standard suffixes are added, but in Portuguese this is less consistent with the name of eponymous saint being what is used. That said, official demonyms do not always match up with how people talk, such as how the official one for Massachusetts is 'Bay Stater', but few people would likely say this and opt for 'Massachusettsian'.
2207: nurse and nutrition Dec 30, 2020
'Nurse' and 'nourish' related based off of a common Latin root meaning 'suckle', as discussed yesterday. These words are also related to 'nutrition' and 'natal', though less directly. All of these words are understood to come from the Proto-Indo-European root *sna- meaning 'to swim; flow'. This is the root of 'natant' and 'natal' (in reference to a child in the womb) but also with reference to the flow of milk and hence 'nurs[ing]' and of course its connotations to nourishment. The link between 'nurse' and 'nutrition' are less clear cut than between 'nurse' and 'nourish', though even those come from the Latin root 'nūtriō' and most people would acknowledge the Proto-Indo-European connection.
2206: nurse & nourish Dec 29, 2020
Nurses today have a wide variety of tasks to accomplish, and while there have always been a number of roles associated with the job, the initial meaning was inextricably linked to children. Indeed, the word is related to 'nourish', both from the Latin 'nutrix' (person who nourishes) from an even earlier term 'nūtriō' (suckle). Contrast this with the chiefly historical terms 'wet nurse' and 'dry nurse', the latter referring to someone who looked after a child but did not breastfeed it, and this will become clear. This word is very distantly related to 'nutrition' as will be explained tomorrow.
ב״ה
2202: harbor and harbinger Dec 25, 2020
The words 'harbor' and 'harbinger' are related, but the meanings have since changed overtime. While a harbinger today is anyone who acts as a forerunner to something else, and a harbor is a place along the coast to keep boats, the original meaning of both regarded personal lodging. A harbinger was someone who was sent ahead of an army or noble to arrange the lodgings or even could refer to the innkeeper himself. A harbor used to have a more general meaning referring to any sort of shelter but especially that of an army, from the Old English 'here-beorg' (i.e. like 'burg') meaning 'army city'. This is also where the 'g' comes from in 'harbinger', with the 'n' coming on the same pattern as 'message-messenger'.
2201: farthing Dec 24, 2020
In old British currency a farthing was a fraction of a penny, but also happens to be somewhat related to a 'riding' as in the divisions of land in Yorkshire. This is because one can understand 'farthing' as 'fourth-ing' (i.e. 1/4 of a penny or in other words 1 / 960th of a pound) from the Old English 'fēorðing', and a 'riding' is from 'trithing' (i.e. a third) in Old English. As a point of information, there were different types and subdivisions of a farthing, including 'third farthings' (1/12 of a penny) and 'quarter farthings' (1/16 of penny). Farthings also referred to divisions of land in places like Gloucestershire.
2200: thing Dec 23, 2020
The Icelandic parliament is called the Alþingi, sometimes anglicized as 'Althing' can illuminate some of the function of 'thing' in English. In this case the word is from the Old Norse 'al-' (general) and 'þing / thing' meaning 'assembly'. While this precise meaning has been lost in English it is still present in other Germanic languages like Danish/Swedish/Norwegian 'ting', the German 'Thing' and so on. Still, the modern sense in English comes from this root, and once referred to the meeting, and then later the matter discussed in a meeting, and then just any general matter; this process happened elsewhere as with the German 'Ding'.
2199: haberdashery Dec 22, 2020
The word 'haberdashery' today relates to all sorts of wares including fabrics, hats, beads, or stationery. The etymology of this word isn't really clear either, but certainly even in the writings from the 14th century this inventory was already quite diverse. It is even found in Canterbury Tales apparently derived from the Norman 'hapertas' (probably small wares), but this itself has an unclear origin, and some dispute its meaning claiming it was specifically just 'fabric' or specifically a merchant of hats.
2198: scavenger Dec 21, 2020
The idea of a scavenger, be it regarding an animal or person, is not a positive one, and initially denoted a particular type of tax collector. Although 'scavenger' is older than 'scavage' (noun)—note the -n-, same as in message-messenger—'scavage' was a tax on goods sold by nonresidence in order to protect local prices. This scavenger had a secondary job of keeping the streets clean and hence the modern sense of collecting debris and refuse. This word is also related to the English 'show' insofar as these scavengers would have to take note of goods and detritus in the area.
2196: pure Dec 19, 2020
It is not uncommon for simple, fairly basic, more conceptual terms to have deep historical roots, but this isn't really true of 'pure'. Indeed, this word is found as a surname and as part of a compound before an adjective in its own right. Granted, that compound was 'purlamb' and referred to a lamb without any sort of physical defect. This word is from a Romantic root without much difference in meaning, and indeed the Proto-Indo-European one *peue- doesn't have too many semantically deviant derivatives. This replaced the earlier Old English 'hlutor', 'smǣte', and 'scǣre' which had some of the same sort of moral and genetic connotations etc. but 'pure' did not immediately have these either.
2195: Positive Names with Negative Etymologies Dec 18, 2020
There are a lot of names out there which sound as if the meanings would be undesirable as a personal name, like 'Delores' (Sorrows). In this case it comes as a moniker for the Virgin Mary, and likewise so do other names like Mercedes (Mercy), Soledad (Loneliness), or Luz (Light), though of course not all of these are so negative. Somewhat ironically then the nicknames 'Lola' and particularly 'Lolita' come from Delores, but these were once seen to have a more erotic connotations, with popular references found in the 19th and 20th century.
On that note, should anyone find a reason 'Delilah' is so popular considering especially that story is fairly commonly known, or any other stigmatized names, please write in to the Suggestions/Questions page: