I don’t think this is a mispronunciation of “cirque.” I got the idea from the speaker that a “suh-RACK” is a fragile part of a glacier that is about to calve, but I didn’t axe him how it was spelt. Anyone???
Thank you.
I assume this has something to do with “serration,” as in a seriated knife.
Nitpick: serrated
And looking at the etymologies at m-w.com, it doesn’t look like they’re related, at least back to Latin.
As KneadToKnow says, nope. Sérac was the name of a type of cheese, and its name is supposed to be derived from the Latin serum, meaning “whey.” Latin serra means “saw.”
That’s interesting. The similarity between a serac and “serration,” even if a false friend, does make it plausible. “Serac” and “cheese/serum/whey,” not so much, except maybe for coloration. Or maybe the cheese was served in jagged clumps.
This may tie the loose ends together:
That picture upthread might remind a French speaking person of some white cheese as much as those Wyoming mountains reminded another of some bodacious ta-tas. 