# Why is our language like it is?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 6, 2019, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123 "2019-04-06T10:54:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@SCquestions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCquestions)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/1 "2019-04-06T10:54:33Z")
Why is the word lice in police (lice being negative and police being a positive word supposedly- same with all these other words), spit is in hospital, con in congress? This has really made me question the foundation of and reasoning behind the English language when there’s a negative part of something that’s supposed to be a word for something that is positive in nature and is supposed to have a positive meaning. Are the police and hospital’s really negative in nature and everything in the English language based on lies? Should I not trust them then? Why was the language set up like this in the first place? As a means of scamming and being deceptive? Thank you for your thoughts and answers on this.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/2 "2019-04-06T11:08:41Z")
The words have absolutely, positivly nothing to do with each other. There are a limited\* number\*\* of letters and sounds in the English language and there will inevitably be repeats\*\*\* in letter combinations\*\*\*\*.
- Has nothing to do with a mite.
\*\* Has nothing to do with being numb.
\*\*\* Has nothing to do with peat.
\*\*\*\* Has nothing to do with a comb _or_ a nation _or_ an ion.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/3 "2019-04-06T11:32:47Z")
Nailed it in one.
(A lot of folks look down on pushers. But aren’t we _all_ pushers? It has “us” right there in the word, people! And not just “us” in general, but _“she” and “he” in particular!_ Along with “her” and “hers”! And even “ushers” are in on this!)
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### Author:  [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/4 "2019-04-06T12:05:35Z")
The English word “police” comes from from Middle French _police_ (late 15c.), from Latin _politia_ “civil administration,” from Greek _polis_ “city.” [Cite](https://www.etymonline.com/word/police).
The English word “louse” comes from Old English _lus_, from Proto-Germanic \*_lus_, from PIE \*\*lus-\*. [Cite](https://www.etymonline.com/word/louse#etymonline_v_14553). The plural “lice” (Old English _lys_) shows effects of [i-mutation](https://www.etymonline.com/columns/post/imutate) (which was how plurals were formed in Old English, just like _mouse-mice_).
In short, there’s absolutely no connection between the words “police” and “lice.” It’s just a coincidence.
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### Author:  [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/5 "2019-04-06T12:37:21Z")
> [@SCquestions](#):
>
> Why is the word lice in police (lice being negative and police being a positive word supposedly- same with all these other words), spit is in hospital, con in congress? This has really made me question the foundation of and reasoning behind the English language when there’s a negative part of something that’s supposed to be a word for something that is positive in nature and is supposed to have a positive meaning. Are the police and hospital’s really negative in nature and everything in the English language based on lies? Should I not trust them then? Why was the language set up like this in the first place? As a means of scamming and being deceptive? Thank you for your thoughts and answers on this.
I’m intrigued. Who do you think might have set up the English language in order to fool people into thinking hospitals are positive when they’re really negative in nature? Why do you think they’d have done so? What “scam” is being run?
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### Author:  [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/6 "2019-04-06T13:20:13Z")
There are lots of cognates, especially German (since English is a Germanic language). Seems like Greek and Latin lasted pretty long, and maybe Aramaic.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/7 "2019-04-06T13:25:59Z")
The bigger false assumption in the OP is that some authority decides to create English words.
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### Author:  [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/8 "2019-04-06T13:26:18Z")
> [@Ace309](#):
>
> IWhat “scam” is being run?
The scam that seems to be genetically/culturally programmed and highly prevalent in humans: pattern recognition and its interpretation.
We seem to be programmed/born with the ability to identify patterns in things. This gift is not confined to analysis of the physical and so we also find patterns in more abstract things like behaviour.
The problem is that our motivations and judgments are independent of this ability and we sometimes attribute ‘evil’ to one pattern but see other patterns as ‘good’ (and, of course, some see good where you see evil). Ultimately how we interpret the patterns we discover would seem to be a choice, but the default is to save our genes.
I fear for the species.
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### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/9 "2019-04-06T13:39:38Z")
SCquestions, if you really want to know about how language works, read some introductory books on linguistics like these:
_What Language Is_ by John McWhorter
_The Language Hoax_ by John McWhorter
_How Language Began_ by Daniel Everett
_The Unfolding of Language_ by Guy Deutscher
_Language: The Cultural Tool_ by Daniel Everett
_Word on the Street_ by John McWhorter
_How Language Works_ by David Crystal
_The Language Instinct_ by Steven Pinker
_An Introduction to Language_ by Victoria Fromkin
_The Power of Language_ by John McWhorter
_The Study of Language_ by George Yule
These are just some that came to my mind quickly. Other people in this thread can recommend you other books. On the other hand, if you want to create conspiracy theories about language, you won’t be very happy on this board.
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### Author:  [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/10 "2019-04-06T14:22:27Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> The bigger false assumption in the OP is that some authority decides to create English words.
Also, the false assumption that “words” originate in writing. The four letters “L-I-C-E” are not a word. They may represent a word, when written alone, but they are not a word by their own accord.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/11 "2019-04-06T14:42:16Z")
I was trying to get with it until lies, scamming, and deception. Reads like a troll. First post.
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### Author:  [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/12 "2019-04-06T14:49:09Z")
Words were around long before writing. Ancient Egyptians, Chines and Japanese (among others) used pictures (pictograms) to write stuff down. The alphabet we use today originated in the 7th century BC and has changed continually over the last 2500 years. It is simply a way of writing words so that someone else can read them. There are many other ways apart from the ‘Latin’ alphabet, but they all have the same purpose.
How ‘things’ got their names is usually lost in history. ‘Hospital’, we are told, came from Old French hospital, (ospital, since the initial aspirant is not pronounced in French) hostel, shelter, lodging. It had different meanings before it began to be used to describe a big building where ill people went. We also have hospitality, which is nothing to do with medics.
Many, if not most words contain other totally unconnected words: In England, there is a town called Scunthorpe. I bet that whoever named it had no idea that in the far distant future, it would be rejected by many forums as an obscene word that might offend someone.
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/13 "2019-04-06T15:04:41Z")
Why is ‘long’ a short word?
Why is ‘abbreviated’ a long word?
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### Author:  [@TaoPilot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaoPilot)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/14 "2019-04-06T15:12:03Z")
Horse manure’s not that bad. I don’t even mind the word ‘manure.’ You know, it’s, it’s ’ newer,’ which is good. And a ‘ma’ in front of it.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/15 "2019-04-06T15:28:37Z")
Yes, English can be weird. It can be understood through tough, thorough thought though.
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### Author:  [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/16 "2019-04-06T16:12:00Z")
First, focus on sounds, not spellings. There are some sound units called _phonesthemes_, smaller than morphemes, that have acquired meaning. For example, the words _flutter, mutter, putter, sputter, splutter_ all involve a series of small sounds or movements. The words mostly do not have a common etymology; the connection **-_utter_ = series of small sounds** arose first by coincidence, but later got reinforced.
_Sn-_ is commonly associated with nose — so much so that when I read about someone snarling or sneering I imagine their nose (or at least upper lip) playing a role in the action.
Phonesthemes sometimes allows one to guess at the meaning of new words. In “’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves” the toves may be harmless but some will find their slithiness unpleasant, even without finding the word in a dictionary. Are they writhing and slippery?
I think most linguists pay very little heed to phonesthemia. A large majority of occurrences of these sound combinations are just coincidences, and do not have a special phonesthemic meaning.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/17 "2019-04-06T16:14:39Z")
Internet Law makes it mandatory to quote James Nicoll here:
> [@](#):
>
> The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/18 "2019-04-06T17:30:49Z")
Since the factual answer to this was given in the first post, let’s move this to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/19 "2019-04-06T17:33:18Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#):
>
> SCquestions, if you really want to know about how language works, read some introductory books on linguistics like these:
>
> _What Language Is_ by John McWhorter
> _The Language Hoax_ by John McWhorter
> _How Language Began_ by Daniel Everett
> _The Unfolding of Language_ by Guy Deutscher
> _Language: The Cultural Tool_ by Daniel Everett
> _Word on the Street_ by John McWhorter
> _How Language Works_ by David Crystal
> _The Language Instinct_ by Steven Pinker
> _An Introduction to Language_ by Victoria Fromkin
> _The Power of Language_ by John McWhorter
> _The Study of Language_ by George Yule
And those are just about language in general. There are plenty of good books about the English language in particular and why it is the way it is.
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### Author:  [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2019, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-our-language-like-it-is/832123/20 "2019-04-06T18:41:52Z")
However, one might point out that the “con” in “congress”, the one in “confluence”, the one in “consume”, and many other places all come, indirectly through French and other romance languages, from the Latin “cum”, which means “with”. But languages just grow. And English is especially bad being essentially a creole of Anglo-Saxon and French, with Anglo-Saxon already a mix of West and North Germanic languages. Not surprisingly a mess.
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