# Do other languages call Earth "Earth"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 15, 2006, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266 "2006-12-15T08:04:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266/41 "2010-01-20T22:47:05Z")
**John W. Kennedy** said: > [@](#): > > Not entirely. It is a thoroughly wrong notion, but a sufficiently unsophisticated person might think that: > > 1. _Earth/planet_ is truly a name, like “John” or “Rumplestiltskin”, which received “dirt” as an extended sense, or even resembles an independent word _earth/dirt_ out of mere coincidence, How about, Earth(planet) is a name _derived_ from its meaning as earth(dirt)? Is that unsophisticated? ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266/42 "2010-01-21T03:08:18Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > How about, Earth(planet) is a name _derived_ from its meaning as earth(dirt)? Is that unsophisticated? Since that is the true state of affairs, it is unsophisticated if it be arrived at by guessing and sophisticated if by examination of the evidence, _e.g.,_ OE and ME texts and the history of cognate words in other languages. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_alot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Mark\_alot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_alot)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266/43 "2012-12-08T00:58:37Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > The English word “world” comes from OE “wer-ald”, literally “man-age”. (“Wer”, as in “werewolf”, is equivalent to Latin “vir”, and means “man – opposite of woman”. “Man”, in OE, is equivalent to Latin “homo”, and means “man – opposite of beast”. For unknown reasons, “wer” disappeared from English and “man” had to pick up the slack.) > > “World” has two main branches of meaning – “era” and “universe”. The “era” meaning has pretty much vanished except in certain stock religious phrases (“…world without end, Amen”) and the “universe” meaning has split into many different ones, such as “planet”, “planet Earth”, “society”, “high society”, “subculture”, “all the stuff in your life that isn’t directly evil and isn’t about bodily appetites, but still distracts you from God”, “Old World” _vs._ “New World”, _etc., etc., etc.._ > > In other words, let’s not go there in this thread. This is the funniest thread I have ever read. The best part is the guy that asked the great question comes back 4 years later and does nothing to clarify what he meant. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266/44 "2012-12-08T01:42:25Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > I want to be a Terran, not an Earthian! Can we have a vote? It was cool before we went all politically correct and could be “Earthmen”. But who wants to be an “Earthperson”? ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266/45 "2012-12-08T02:27:44Z")
it’s “_ground ball_” in Chinese. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266/46 "2012-12-08T15:42:20Z")
> [@Mark\_alot](#): > > This is the funniest thread I have ever read. The best part is the guy that asked the great question comes back 4 years later and does nothing to clarify what he meant. :smack: Personally, now that it’s been an _additional_ three years, I enjoy entertaining the notion that **Dex** has been checking his e-mail daily for the past three years hoping just _hoping_ that _maybe today_ someone has written in to volunteer to write a follow-up to the original Staff Report. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266/47 "2012-12-12T22:47:40Z")
Here’s the pitch … Chen swings … and it’s a slow Earth to shortstop. ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266/48 "2012-12-13T18:45:28Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > It was cool before we went all politically correct and could be “Earthmen”. But who wants to be an “Earthperson”? Traditionally it was not “Earthperson” but “Earthling” – a word that today unfortunately bears irredeemable connotations of B-grade sci-fi. Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266/49 "2012-12-14T01:22:11Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > It was cool before we went all politically correct and could be “Earthmen”. But who wants to be an “Earthperson”? > [@Powers](#): > > Traditionally it was not “Earthperson” but “Earthling” – a word that today unfortunately bears irredeemable connotations of B-grade sci-fi. > Powers &8^] Don’t forget [Earth Angels](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sw06XolOIA). ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266/50 "2012-12-14T08:32:57Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > it’s “_ground ball_” in Chinese. Gonna nitpick on ya. In Chinese, 地 as a noun has a couple of meanings: the ground you walk on, the soil you till, the land you own, or a particular place you’re headed to. And in this case, 球 is better translated as “sphere”. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266/51 "2012-12-14T09:27:15Z")
> [@dotchan](#): > > Gonna nitpick on ya. … that’s the beauty of the Chinese language, it’s logical and it makes sense. the ground you walk on, the soil you till, the land you own, or a particular place you’re headed to - all wrapped up in a sphere. character by character direct translation can be crude, funny and possibly bewildering to the non-Chinese (eg. electronic brain). the correct translation is “Earth”. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266/52 "2012-12-14T09:28:44Z")
In Russian, the word is _Zemlya/zemlya_, with additional terms specifically for soil or ground (_pochva, chernozem_). I much prefer _Earther_ to _Terran_ or _Earthian_, though I do have a soft spot for _Earthling_ as well. 🙂 (_Earthperson_ is an abomination! :mad: ) ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266/53 "2012-12-15T00:31:28Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > character by character direct translation can be crude, funny and possibly bewildering to the non-Chinese (eg. electronic brain). Ah, you don’t remember the 50s, then. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266/54 "2012-12-15T03:22:18Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > In Russian, the word is _Zemlya/zemlya_, with additional terms specifically for soil or ground (_pochva, chernozem_). > > I much prefer _Earther_ to _Terran_ or _Earthian_, though I do have a soft spot for _Earthling_ as well. 🙂 > > (_Earthperson_ is an abomination! :mad: ) Where in the world did I get the idea that it was мир in Russian? That being also “peace,” but not “soil”, so far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266/55 "2013-02-17T17:31:26Z")
> [@Silvermink](#): > > Being someone that believed Earth to be a name, what do other countries call the other planets? What do astronomers call the planets when writing international journals? As for the second, whatever they are called in the language in which they’re writing. As for the first, in Romance languages planets and moons other than Earth and the Moon have sort of the same names as in English: they are named after the same mythological beings, but the names of those beings themselves change from language to language. So for example in Spanish it’s\* Mercurio, Venus, la Tierra (la Luna), Marte (Fobos\* or _Phobos, Deimos)_… whereas in Catalan it’s _Mercuri, Venus, la Terra (la Lluna), Marte (Fobos_ or _Phobos, Deimos)_… and the pronunciations of Venus and of Marte are different. I’ve included the Ph spellings because they’ve become somewhat common in recent decades, but in older texts you’re more likely to find it as Fobos. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266/56 "2013-02-17T17:44:28Z")
> [@qazwart](#): > > Let’s call our planet _New Jersey_. That will keep the evil aliens from attempting to conquer our planet and enslave us all. Well, they’d still have to change spaceships here on their way to whatever planet they _do_ conquer. At least they’d arrive at that planet having lost their luggage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-call-earth-earth/384266.md?page=2)