2327: 'To Pit Against' & 'Cockpit' May 2, 2021
Although in many places cock-fighting is illegal now, in medieval Europe one might find them in any small town even. This had led to a number of phrases in English, including the phrase "to be pitted (up) against", but also the more innocuous term 'cockpit'. This was eventually used for nautical purposes, and later for cars and planes, with the original sense being a tight, enclosed space.
2326: gymnasium #2 May 1, 2021
The word 'gymnasium' in English is usually refers to a place where exercise is done, and in German it is the name for a type of a lower school usually at a high academic standard, but in Greek γυμνός (gumnós) means 'naked'. Indeed this word belongs to a larger family of European words descended from the Proto-Indo-European root *nogw- meaning 'naked'. In Ancient Greece, it was a standard community feature to have an open-air area for sports, all done in the nude, but eventually this developed into a place of training the body and even the mind, hence the English and German senses.
2325: nanny goat Apr 30, 2021
The term 'nanny goat' has been used to refer to a child's nurse and a domestic she-goat. It would be reasonable to assume that the term for the occupation existed either first or independently of the goat especially considering there were plenty of other terms from the 17th and 18th century that use 'nanny' in a variable sense but this is not true. The goat was an actual goat who would act as a sort of wet-nurse to a child who didn't have a mother, or whose mother couldn't or wouldn't lactate. When this term mostly replaced 'she-goat', 'billy goat' emerged to mostly replace 'he-goat'.
2324: manna Apr 29, 2021
The Biblical substance known as 'manna' in English is מָן (mon) in Hebrew, and I likewise in Arabic does not have this added [ə] at the end. This was definitely added in by the time of introduction of Greek to the region (which happened long before Arabic even existed) with the Greek μάννα (mánna) using this extra vowel and long [n]. This was probably not from Aramaic nor especially an Aramaic phrase though many early writings have claimed this origin for the word and particularly the added extra syllable from Greek.
2323: auspice, auspicious, & augur Apr 28, 2021
'Auspice' on its own is a legitimate albeit rare word, but referring to a prophetic object or sign, but in the phrase "under the auspices of..." meaning "with the support and oversight of..." it's fairly common. It is in the first way, unsurprisingly that we see its semantic relation to the word 'auspicious', meaning 'sign of success'. Originally though, rather than the general meaning those have now, this was particular to divination, and is related to the word 'augur' which initially was an actual Roman officer whose job was as a diviner.
2322: coconut Apr 27, 2021
Coconuts have nothing to do with not cocoa etymologically*, but does have to do with skulls. In Spanish and Portuguese, 'coco' means 'grinning face', 'grimacing face', or alternatively 'skull'. This is in reference to the three depressions on the outside of a coconut which were said to resemble the face of a person.
* 'Cocoa' was originally 'cacao' but the spelling was influenced from 'coco-'.
2321: cormorants & corvids Apr 26, 2021
Cormorants are not corvids, and yet the name for this bird comes from the Latin 'corvus marinus' meaning 'sea raven'. 'Corvus' led to the word 'corvid' denoting the family of crows, ravens, jays, and so on, but this is not the only linguistic similarity to taxonomically distant birds. For one thing, 'cormorant' as an adjective is a synonym of 'ravenous' which of course comes from 'raven' as both birds are known for eating a lot, voraciously.
'Corvus' (Latin for 'raven') led to the word 'corvid' denoting the family of crows, ravens, jays, and so on, but is not related to 'crow' directly, despite any semantic and phonetic similarities. That said, it is believed that the names for both crows and ravens are both ultimately from onomatopoeias based off the calls they make.
2321: Drunk-Driving vs. Drink-Driving Apr 25, 2021
In the US, driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol is often referred to as 'drunk-driving' while in the UK and Australia it is 'drink-driving'. While the phrases themselves are somewhat random of course, one theory on the difference is that of different connotations to 'drunk', with consideration to the fact that something can be considered DUI without necessarily being as drunk as one might associate with that word, and could include someone who appears more clear-headed. Either way these are not usual for laws and other official purposes and if the aforementioned theory is true, 'drunk-driving' can't be so easily changed now that has embedded itself in the cultural lexicon.
2320: mortar Apr 24, 2021
'Mortar' exists in the context of "mortar and pestle", "brick and mortar", and "mortar cannon" which all have fairly different meanings. This is because of the original French 'mortier' meaning both 'mixed cement/concrete' and 'a bowl to mix cement' which led fairly clearly to two of the senses of this word mentioned above, with a mortar meaning both a bowl for a mixture and then a mixture itself, both for spices and obviously cement. In the case of the explosives, this is from the meaning as a bowl, describing the shape of a cannon barrel, even those these are more cylindrical than some ways, but at least it was to describe shorter cannons and in that way offers some clarity.
2319: Kobon Verbs: Only 120 Apr 23, 2021
Famously, the language of Kobon only has some 90-120 verbs. This is difficult to imagine from an English perspective with 171,476 verbs according to the Oxford English Dictionary 2nd edition. The way this is pulled off is obviously not having anything like English's many synonyms and obscurely used verbs, for instance having only one verb to express observation through any of the senses or emotion, or another verb to describe movement through virtually any means, though there are 3 words for pouring (regarding solids, liquids, or food) and one verb meaning 'to quarter a cassowary'. What Kobon does have, however, is a fairly normal number of nouns, and to get around certain idea phrases which would be periphrastic in other languages are used. Alternatively, verbal ideas are put together to make a compounded meaning.
2318: italy Apr 22, 2021
The Italian nation is a fairly young one by European standards, but its name goes very far back. Originally it was from the Oscan language 𐌅𐌝𐌕𐌄𐌋𐌉𐌞 (víteliú) meaning "land of bulls". Oscan is an extinct language from the Italian peninsula, but this is assumed to be related with the Latin word 'vitulus' meaning 'calf'. This name for Italy is originally just for the southern tip of the peninsulina.
2317: walnut Apr 21, 2021
Walnuts originate from Persia, but they are named for Wales, sort of. 'Walnut', or 'wealhhnutu' in Old English literally meant 'foreign nut'. This is from the Germanic root *walhaz, whose meaning developed in many ways including 'Roman; Romantic' (hence 'Walloon'), 'Celtic' (hence 'Wales'), or just generally 'foreign'. This is also seen in 'Welsh onions' which are Japanese, and in many other Germanic languages.
2316: Capuchin Monks, Capuchin Monkeys,and Cappuccino Apr 20 2021
Capuchin monkeys named like the coffee, and the coffee is named after the Franciscan monks. The name for the monks too were from the hooded cloak (or 'cappa' in Late Latin) which was dark on the bottom and white on the top. Likewise, the white foam on dark coffee shared this resemblance and hence 'cappuccino'. Capuchin monkeys and likewise a certain sort of pigeon were named thus for their natural light-head-dark-body coloring, and also having fur and feathers respectively that looks like a hood somewhat.
2315: Italy, Włochy, and Olaszország—How Are These Related? Apr 19, 2021
Many names for Italy follow a similar format: Italien, Italia etc. Some clear exceptions to this exist however in the Polish Włochy and Hungarian Olaszország. In the case of Polish, this word actually has an old Germanic root, despite Germanic languages by and large not using this anymore for 'Italy' from *walhaz meaning 'Roman; Romance', and having the same root as 'Wales' and 'Wallonia'. Similarly, 'Olaszország' is also ultimately of this same proto-Germanic, and proto-Slavic root, possibly related to the Latin 'Volcae', the name of a Celtic tribe. At any rate, only the first half of this comes from the 'Vlasi' root, and the rest is a suffix, as can be seen in Hungarian's related word 'Oláh' for a Romanian.
2314: psycho-: psychotic vs. psychopomp Apr 18, 2021
Words like 'psychopath', or 'psychotic', could give an impression that the combining form 'psycho-' related to problems in mental health, but as can be seen in the word 'psychopomp', this is not the case. A psychopomp is the name for a guide through the underworld, as might be said of Anubis in Egyptian mythology, Mercury in Greek mythology, Valkyries in Norse mythology and even the Grim Reaper. The origin of this word is Greek ψυχοπομπός (psychopompós) with 'psycho (psūkhḗ) meaning 'soul', and 'pompós' here meaning 'sender; conductor'. Thus in its purest sense, 'psycho-' as a combining form means 'soul' or 'mind'.
2314: Cat=Dog, Lamb, and Goat?—Wanderwort Apr 17, 2021
The word for 'dog' in Latin is 'canis' (hence English's 'canine') but the word for 'puppy' is 'catulus'. This also led to its own derivative word in English: 'cat'. This gets stranger however, with more distant relation to the Russian око́т (okót) meaning 'lamb', and Old Irish 'cadla' for 'goat'. Others go on still to connect this to the Arabic قِطّ (qiṭṭ) (i.e. 'cat) and other Semitic words to classify this root as a wanderwort across Indo-European, Uralic, and Semitic languages without one clear origin. The original idea seems to involve however young, often small animals, or sometimes more generally animal fertility.
2313: Star Wars Numeration Apr 16, 2021
Many people have been confused by the fact that the first of the Star Wars released was #4, but this is partly because it's not entirely true. The numeration began in 1981's with the first film's rerelease, and when the next film came out. Granted, that still means that they were called IV and V before there were an episode I or II, riding on the first film's success and quickly planning both sequels and prequels. Thus, Star Wars was only retroactively officially named as Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
2312: The Use of the Term 'Byzantine Empire' Apr 15, 2021
The name for the Byzantine Empire as such really only came after the fall of the empire itself for complex religious and political reasons. For its near eleven centuries of existence after the fall of the city of Rome (and with it, the western half of the classical Roman Empire) it was known as the Roman Empire, or in Medieval Greek, Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων (Basileía Rhōmaíōn). It was only in the Renaissance that Europeans—now with a goal of reviving and adapting many aspects of Classical Greek and Roman culture and thought—wished to draw a distinction between the ancient Latin-speaking, pagan Rome and later Christian, Greek-speaking Roman Empire, that the term Byzantine, from the Ancient Greek 'Byzantion', was renewed. That said, this term actually predates (ancient Roman) Emperor Constantine's move of the capital from Rome, and renaming of the city of Byzantion as Constantinople.
2311: Mozart's Middle Name Apr 14, 2021
Mozart had many middle names, but Amadeus was never one of them. His full baptismal name is Latinized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart though he went also by other versions of this in his typical German-speaking contexts, reverting 'Wolfgangus' to 'Wolfgang', and Theophilus, which is Greek, he used the translated Gottlieb (lover of G-d). It is from this final name where Amadeus emerges, since this is also the Latin translation but evidence shows that he would have only ever used the Italian 'Amadeo' and French 'Amadè' in those respective contexts; since he used the Greek alongside the other Latinized forms in his names, he would not have actually used Amadeus. It is only in his death records that he is listed as "Wolfgang Amadeus", which variably uses a German and then Latin form.
2310: Beyond MI5 and MI6...Even MI19 Apr 13, 2021
The UK's Directorate of Military Intelligence, beginning in its earliest stages by 1873, the only remnants of which are the MI5 (mostly domestic: counter-terrorism, counter-espionage and military police) and the MI6 (monitoring economic intelligence and arms trafficking). Not only were there at other points MI1-MI4, but all the way up to MI19. Primarily these operated during WWII, and were either completely dissolved (such as MI14 used to monitor Germany through aerial photography and messenger pigeons in WWII), merged into other organizations altogether, or in the case of MI3, MI8, and MI10, merged with MI6 in the 1940's. MI13 was never used.