Your favourite etymology trivia!

[scamartistry]

I love etymology on a pure layman basis. Sometimes the origin of common words can be very fascinating and at best give a good insight into history.

I kick it off with the word "trivia" (how apropos):

Trivia is from the latin word trivium, tri=triple and via=way.
As far as I understand, back in the days (sometime, somewhere) the city's three way street was a common meeting place for the working class/unemployed and other unprivileged people. From there the word trivia was used to denote something unimportant/vulgar and on to vernacular of today: information of little value.

Got more?

[CalMeacham]

1.) item


"Item is latin for "also". On lists of household items, bills of lading, lists of items in a will, etc., which used to be written in Latin, they used to precede each thing with "also". In English, it would look like gthis:


One bed
ALSO three chairs
ALSO one table
ALSO four lamps
...


People started calling everything listed after the word I have translated "ALSO" as an "ITEM", for obvious reasons.


2.) oscillate

Romans used to hang masks in their gardens and vinyards. Originally lightweight items (ha!) made of bark or cloth, these eventually gave way to more durable and massive ones made of stone. These were called "little faces", or "oscilla" (from latin "os", which can mean "face"). Because they rocked back and forth in the wind, the motion became, in English, "oscillation"

[scamartistry]

Vomitorium

From the decadent days of Rome: these were actual rooms constructed for upper class people where they could go puke after binge eating.

Actually it's just latin for "entrance to the amphitheatre".

[CalMeacham]

..

[suranyi]

"cosmetics" -- that is, lipstick, etc. -- comes from the same root as "cosmos" -- that is, the universe. They both come from the Greek word for order and arrangement.

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

Originally Posted by scamartistry

Vomitorium

From the decadent days of Rome: these were actual rooms constructed for upper class people where they could go puke after binge eating.

Actually it's just latin for "entrance to the amphitheatre".

Cecil disagrees with you about the purpose of a vomitorium. They were not built as (or used as) a place to puke.

[scamartistry]

Originally Posted by Gary "Wombat" Robson

Cecil disagrees with you about the purpose of a vomitorium. They were not built as (or used as) a place to puke.

That was exactly my point.

Read the post again.

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

Originally Posted by scamartistry

That was exactly my point.

Read the post again.

Sorry, but even upon my third re-read of your post, I don't see anything about vomitoriums not being used for vomiting. All I see is your reference to the etymology.

[twickster]

Moved Cafe Society --> IMHO

twickster, who tweets a #WOTD etymology tidbit.

[JKellyMap]

The English words "travail" and "travel" are closely related to the Spanish "trabajo" and French "travail", which both mean "work".

"Travail" makes sense -- onerous, difficult work, sort of. "Travel" is a bit further afield (semantically), but not too odd, considering how much of a burden it used to be to ride a carriage or whatever over rough medieval roads.

But take this further back, and things really get weird. The words all derive from a Latin word for a torture device!

Originally Posted by Online Etymological Dictionary

*tripaliare "to torture," from *tripalium (in L.L. trepalium) "instrument of torture," probably from L. tripalis "having three stakes" (from tria, tres "three" + palus "stake")

[septimus]

I found this one amusing:

Originally Posted by Online Etymological Dictionary

cretin
1779, from Fr. crétin (18c.), from Alpine dialect crestin, "a dwarfed and deformed idiot" of a type formerly found in families in the Alpine lands ... from V.L. *christianus "a Christian," a generic term for "anyone," but often with a sense of "poor fellow."

[Robot Arm]

The verb "escalate", in the sense of “to increase in extent, volume, number, amount, intensity or scope" (along with escalation) is a fairly recent addition to English. It's a back formation from "escalator", originally a trade name that has become generic like "cellophane" and "aspirin". One of the early non-trademark uses was an "escalation" provision in naval treaties.

"Escalator" is said to come from "scala" (Latin for "step") and "elevator".

[RealityChuck]

1. Bird

Etymologists aren't really sure where the word "bird" comes from.

The Old English common term was "fowle," and "bird" appears to come from "briddas," but that only applied to the young (i.e., "chick"). The word has no relatives in any Germanic language ("brood" was a candidate, but there's no connection). It was also originally "brid," and it's very unusual for a word to spoonerize letters like that.

2. Turtle

The word originally referred to a type of bird, so named because of the sound of its call. The name for the reptile was "tortoise." After the Norman invasion, the French word for the reptile was "tortue," which didn't make sense to English speakers. Through folk etymology* "tortue" became "turtle." To avoid confusion, the bird was renamed "turtle dove."


*A phrase that's often misunderstood: it means people substituting familiar sounds or words for unfamiliar ones, not an urban legend about the word's origin.

[Filbert]

Originally Posted by RealityChuck

1. Bird
2. Turtle

The word originally referred to a type of bird, so named because of the sound of its call. The name for the reptile was "tortoise." After the Norman invasion, the French word for the reptile was "tortue," which didn't make sense to English speakers. Through folk etymology* "tortue" became "turtle." To avoid confusion, the bird was renamed "turtle dove."

After the Norman invasion? It's taking a while then, because in England, a land-dwelling chelonian is still a tortoise.

Those which are semi-aquatic are known as terrapins, though marine chelonians are called turtles.

[RealityChuck]

Originally Posted by Filbert

After the Norman invasion? It's taking a while then, because in England, a land-dwelling chelonian is still a tortoise.

Those which are semi-aquatic are known as terrapins, though marine chelonians are called turtles.

"Tortoise" referred to all three originally; "turtle" was the name of the bird.

[njtt]

Originally Posted by RealityChuck

Through folk etymology* "tortue" became "turtle." To avoid confusion, the bird was renamed "turtle dove."


*A phrase that's often misunderstood: it means people substituting familiar sounds or words for unfamiliar ones, not an urban legend about the word's origin.

As "people substituting familiar sounds or words for unfamiliar ones" is not etymology at all (as opposed to a process of interest to etymologists), I very much doubt that this is the (or even a) "correct" definition of "folk etymology". On the other hand, the phrase's use to mean "an urban legend about the word's origin" is both appropriate, transparent, and useful (and certainly more appropriate than "urban legend").

Also, as already pointed out, the word "tortoise" is still in general use in Britain. Furthermore, "turtle" (without "dove") to refer to the bird still seems to have been current in Shakespeare's time, long after the Norman conquest.

[matt_mcl]

Originally Posted by njtt

As "people substituting familiar sounds or words for unfamiliar ones" is not etymology at all (as opposed to a process of interest to etymologists), I very much doubt that this is the (or even a) "correct" definition of "folk etymology". On the other hand, the phrase's use to mean "an urban legend about the word's origin" is both appropriate, transparent, and useful (and certainly more appropriate than "urban legend").

No, the definition of "folk etymology" is as given. Another example is belfry -- it was originally berfrey, but the first syllable was modified by association with the unrelated bell. The term "folk etymology" refers to how the modification arises through the assumption that it must be derived from the transparent "bell" instead of its actual, opaque origins.

[matt_mcl]

Cite: Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics, p. 415:

Process of word formation based on a reinterpretation of meaning and a reformation of an archaic, foreign word modeled after a similar-sounding known word with a similar meaning. Through this diachronic linguistic process, incomprehensible words are (secondarily) motivated, i.e. their meanings are made transparent through a seemingly plausible interpretation. [Examples given are sparrowgrass for asparagus, French choucroute "cabbage-crust" for Sauerkraut, and German Hängematte "hang-mat" for Arawak hamaka "hammock".]

[njtt]

Originally Posted by matt_mcl

No, the definition of "folk etymology" is as given. Another example is belfry -- it was originally berfrey, but the first syllable was modified by association with the unrelated bell. The term "folk etymology" refers to how the modification arises through the assumption that it must be derived from the transparent "bell" instead of its actual, opaque origins.

So the phrase "folk etymology" has now undergone "folk etymology" (as you define it) and achieved a more transparent meaning. And a good thing too.

[matt_mcl]

Originally Posted by njtt

So the phrase "folk etymology" has now undergone "folk etymology" (as you define it) and achieved a more transparent meaning. And a good thing too.

No, that's an opposite process. You're talking about misinterpreting its meaning according to its form. Folk etymology is altering the form to go with the meaning.

[ioioio]

Originally Posted by RealityChuck

1. Bird
Etymologists aren't really sure where the word "bird" comes from.

I've always assumed that the word bird came from the song of the cardinal birdee birdee birdee.

[samclem]

Originally Posted by scamartistry

I kick it off with the word "trivia" (how apropos):

Trivia is from the latin word trivium, tri=triple and via=way.
As far as I understand, back in the days (sometime, somewhere) the city's three way street was a common meeting place for the working class/unemployed and other unprivileged people. From there the word trivia was used to denote something unimportant/vulgar and on to vernacular of today: information of little value.

Not much evidence exists to support that theory.

[Mahaloth]

Originally Posted by scamartistry

I love etymology on a pure layman basis. Sometimes the origin of common words can be very fascinating and at best give a good insight into history.

I kick it off with the word "trivia" (how apropos):

Trivia is from the latin word trivium, tri=triple and via=way.
As far as I understand, back in the days (sometime, somewhere) the city's three way street was a common meeting place for the working class/unemployed and other unprivileged people. From there the word trivia was used to denote something unimportant/vulgar and on to vernacular of today: information of little value.

Got more?

Do you have a cite for this?

[scamartistry]

sorry no. I read it in a Bill Bryson book. Might be complete nonsense.

[pullin]

The word "Taser" is taken from a 1911 young adult adventure story. It is volume 10 of the Tom Swift series, and in it he has an "electric rifle" (they're hunting elephants in Africa).

Jack Cover, the inventor of the actual taser took the initials from the book: Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle. TASER.

[CalMeacham]

Originally Posted by pullin

The word "Taser" is taken from a 1911 young adult adventure story. It is volume 10 of the Tom Swift series, and in it he has an "electric rifle" (they're hunting elephants in Africa).

Jack Cover, the inventor of the actual taser took the initials from the book: Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle. TASER.

I just researched this myself after a co-worker told me about it. It's true, I'm surprised to find. Except that he had to cheat a litle -- the books never gave Tom Swift's middle name or initial, so he assumedp the "A" in order to get TASER

[samclem]

Originally Posted by scamartistry

sorry no. I read it in a Bill Bryson book. Might be complete nonsense.

Ah! There's the problem. While a great, entertaining writer, Mr. Bryson is only an amateur etymologist. He makes more than a few mistakes.

[california jobcase]

In metamorphosis, meta- means change and morph- means form. Therefore, people saying something "morphs" or is "morphing" meaning to change or changing are using the wrong part of the word.

Cite: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=metamorphosis

[Pitchmeister]

Originally Posted by california jobcase

In metamorphosis, meta- means change and morph- means form. Therefore, people saying something "morphs" or is "morphing" meaning to change or changing are using the wrong part of the word.

Cite: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=metamorphosis

That's true of many things. Maitre d' is another good example.

[JKellyMap]

Though it's French, I think one of the most fascinating examples of this is the French word for "not", becaus it's so commonplace.

It's the same word as "step", because it originally was part of a phrase that was parsed as "not [even one] step" ("non passum", in Latin). But they kept the wrong part, and threw the "ne"away (though it's still written when the full phrase is used.)

[matt_mcl]

Originally Posted by JKellyMap

Though it's French, I think one of the most fascinating examples of this is the French word for "not", becaus it's so commonplace.

It's the same word as "step", because it originally was part of a phrase that was parsed as "not [even one] step" ("non passum", in Latin). But they kept the wrong part, and threw the "ne"away (though it's still written when the full phrase is used.)

The same thing obtains with various the French negatives: ne... rien "nothing" (from Latin res "thing"), ne... personne "nobody," ne... aucun "none, no" (from Vulgar Latin aliquunum "some one thing"), ne... plus "no more". In fact, in colloquial speech where "ne" is dropped, plus has developed different, disambiguating pronunciations in the positive and negative in Quebec: /pløs/ for positive and /py/ for negative (so y'en a plusse "there is more," y'en a pu "there is no more").

There are other, now archaic words for "not" similar in origin to pas: ne... goutte ("not a drop"), ne... mie ("not a crumb"), ne... point ("not a dot") -- the last one is still sometimes used, though for an archaic effect. There are also archaic constructions where ne is the only negative, such as Qui ne dit mot consent ("who does not say a word, consents" -- if you keep silent, you agree).

[matt_mcl]

I like the fact that, unlike most languages, the English word queen is not just the feminine form of the word king, but a separate root, originally "woman" and hence "wife" and then "wife of the king," and related to such words for "woman" as Swedish kvinna, Greek gune (whence gynecologist), and Persian zen (whence zenana).

Another one that fascinates me is that the common English word thing originally meant "parliament," of all things, and still does in several languages (Icelandic þing , Norwegian ting, Manx Tynwald.) The root started off as meaning "appointed time," thence "business," thence "discussion of business," "council," "item for discussion at council," "subject at hand," and finally "thing."

Amazingly, a similar semantic development happened with Romance cosa/chose/coisa "thing" -- originally from Latin causa "lawsuit" and hence "subject at hand" (causa/cause still mean "lawsuit").

[brewha]

Originally Posted by california jobcase

In metamorphosis, meta- means change and morph- means form. Therefore, people saying something "morphs" or is "morphing" meaning to change or changing are using the wrong part of the word.

Cite: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=metamorphosis

I like it! Just like when people refer Leonardo da Vinci as simply da Vinci - they really aren't saying anything.

His name literally means: Leonardo from Venice.

Leonardo makes sense. Leonardo da Vinci makes sense. da Vinci doesn't.

[Colophon]

Originally Posted by brewha

I like it! Just like when people refer Leonardo da Vinci as simply da Vinci - they really aren't saying anything.

His name literally means: Leonardo from Venice.

Leonardo makes sense. Leonardo da Vinci makes sense. da Vinci doesn't.

You are correct, except that it means "from Vinci", not "from Venice". Leonardo was from Tuscany.

Also, regarding "trivia", my dictionary says it is from Latin "trivialis", meaning "belonging to the streets; common", which does come from trivium meaning a junction of three roads. So perhaps Bryson was right?

[Johnny Angel]

Originally Posted by Colophon

Also, regarding "trivia", my dictionary says it is from Latin "trivialis", meaning "belonging to the streets; common", which does come from trivium meaning a junction of three roads. So perhaps Bryson was right?

Just on the strength of the assertions, the plausibility seems to be a toss-up. Trivium does have both those meanings -- 'the streets' in antiquity and then in Medaeval times 'the first three liberal arts'. I can see the term arising out of either of those senses, so what else besides competing assertions do we have?

[troubledwater]

That the word "journal" is fairly straightforwardly derived from the Latin dies (day) without sharing any letters between the origin and the result.

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

Tom= cut (Greek)
Sect = cut (Latin)

So you have:

insect (because it is cut into three parts, head, abdomen and thorax) and entomology.

Dissection (cut apart) and anatomy (discrete parts of the body).

[JKellyMap]

Originally Posted by IvoryTowerDenizen

Tom= cut (Greek)
Sect = cut (Latin)

So you have:

insect (because it is cut into three parts, head, abdomen and thorax) and entomology.

Dissection (cut apart) and anatomy (discrete parts of the body).

And you have "shit". No kidding. It's probably from the same root as "sec" (which gives us "scissors", etc.), and refers to a "little piece of the body that is cut from the rest (when you defecate)".

P.S. Merci, matt_mcl....fascinating!

[Clothahump]

Originally Posted by JKellyMap

And you have "shit". No kidding. It's probably from the same root as "sec" (which gives us "scissors", etc.), and refers to a "little piece of the body that is cut from the rest (when you defecate)".

P.S. Merci, matt_mcl....fascinating!

I don't think so. The German Scheiss is the root; the double s morphed into t in English.

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

The giant panda (or panda bear) was originally called the "particolor bear." Then, naturalists, noticing some similarities to another critter known as the panda, decided that it wasn't a bear at all, but a relative of the panda. This resulted in the renaming of the particolor bear to "giant panda," and the "panda" to the "lesser panda" or "red panda."

Then, 100 years later, they realized. . . Oops! We had it right the first time! Shazam! It really is a bear!

(The word "panda" itself appears to be the local name for the red panda, and I have no idea what it means in that "local" language.)

[newme]

Originally Posted by Clothahump

I don't think so. The German Scheiss is the root; the double s morphed into t in English.

You have that backwards. Proto-germanic "t" sometimes morphed into "ss" or "ts" in German.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Ge...onsonant_shift and search for "*t→ss"

[JKellyMap]

Originally Posted by newme

You have that backwards. Proto-germanic "t" sometimes morphed into "ss" or "ts" in German.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Ge...onsonant_shift and search for "*t→ss"

Quite right. "Shit":

"Old Norse skita, Old English scitan, etc., the regular Germanic verb, and the corresponding noun, etc., originally 'separate' (as in Latin excrementum, from cernere 'separate', cognate to Greek crino 'separate, judge', Old English sceran 'cut, shear', etc, also Sanskrit apa-skara- 'excrement'), cognate to Lithuanian skeisti 'separate, divide', Latin scindere, Greek schizo 'split', etc., from Indo-European skei-d- beside Irish sceithim 'vomit', Gothic skaidan 'separate', etc."

-- Buck 1949, p. 276

[AnalogSignal]

When the telegraph was invented, they needed a device to amplify or repeat the signal so messages could travel greater distances. Instead of inventing a new word, they called it a relay based on this existing meaning of the word:

relay: A fresh team, of horses or dogs, to relieve weary animals in a hunt, task, or journey.

It's as if the electrical signal was carried a distance by horse which got tired and was replaced by a fresh horse to continue carrying the signal.


This post is extremely appropriate for my user name.

[njtt]

Originally Posted by scamartistry

I love etymology on a pure layman basis. Sometimes the origin of common words can be very fascinating and at best give a good insight into history.

I kick it off with the word "trivia" (how apropos):

Trivia is from the latin word trivium, tri=triple and via=way.
As far as I understand, back in the days (sometime, somewhere) the city's three way street was a common meeting place for the working class/unemployed and other unprivileged people. From there the word trivia was used to denote something unimportant/vulgar and on to vernacular of today: information of little value.

Got more?

The Trivium was a division of the standard medieval university curriculum, so named because it consisted of three parts, grammar, rhetoric and logic. It was foundational for (and thus less advanced and perhaps considered more trivial than) the four subjects of the Quadrivium: geometry, astronomy, arithmetic and music.

Originally posted by Wikipedia:
the contrast between the simpler trivium and more difficult quadrivium gave rise to the word "trivial".

What you have given us is one of those folk etymologies that somebody dreamed up one day because it sounded good, I think.

[matt_mcl]

In Canada, the common term for a federal or provincial electoral district is riding, and in French, comté (the official terms are electoral district, at least federally, and circonscription). Basically, the original electoral districts were indeed the counties, hence the French term.

But as more and more English-speaking settlers moved to what's now Ontario, they began to agitate for representation by population, so counties with sufficient population were subdivided into smaller electoral districts.

Now, riding is from Old English thriding, "a third part" (compare farthing, "a fourth part, a quarter of a penny"). The county of Yorkshire in England, owing to its large size, was historically divided into three parts, accordingly called thridings, or later ridings; so this came to mean "subdivision of a county." So this word was transferred to the new electoral divisions that were smaller than a county.

Both comté and riding stuck long after electoral divisions ceased to have any necessary relation to counties (which are of variable administrative importance today -- generally they are substantially less powerful than U.S. counties). But the names still reflect the fact that in French Canada electoral divisions were counties and in English Canada they were smaller than counties.

[JKellyMap]

Originally Posted by matt_mcl

Both comté and riding stuck long after electoral divisions ceased to have any necessary relation to counties (which are of variable administrative importance today -- generally they are substantially less powerful than U.S. counties). But the names still reflect the fact that in French Canada electoral divisions were counties and in English Canada they were smaller than counties.

Cool! While we're doing political geographic units, the stan in the "-stans" (Pakistan, Aghanistan...) is from an Old Persian word related to Englisg state -- all goes back to an Indo-European root basically meaning "to stand".

And...the "-pore" in, say, Singapore is cousin to the "-polis" in, for example, Indianapolis. Both refer to a city-sized group of people (one's Sanskrit, the other Greek).

[Chronos]

Huh, I always figured that a "riding" was an area of land which could easily be covered by a man on horseback. You learn something new every day.

My contribution: "Negotiate", from the Latin "negotium", for work or business to be conducted. Which in turn comes from "neg", not, plus "otium", leisure time. So negotiating is what you're doing when you're not relaxing.

[astorian]

One leading theory (I HOPE it's true, though I can't vouch that it is) is that the butterfly gets its name because one of its favorite foods is pollen... which means its poop comes out looking like tiny pieces of butter.

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

Originally Posted by scamartistry

Trivia is from the latin word trivium, tri=triple and via=way.

I'd never consider a 3way as trivial.

[astorian]

This isn't etymology, strictly speaking, but it's interesting anyway.

In the English language, almost all the names of common farm animals (pig, cow, chicken, sheep) are of Germanic original. However, almost all of the names for the meats that come from these animals (pork, beef, poultry, mutton) are of French origin.

Which sort of makes sense... you have to figure that, in medieval England, it was peasants of German descent who raised the animals and it was rich noblemen of French descent who ate the meat.