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Discussing the origins of words and phrases, in English or any other language. Powered by @r_channels @reddit2telegram
Does anyone here have access to Oxford English Dictionary (oed.com)?
I'm interested in knowing the etymology and historical development of a specific slang for a critical essay in my media studies class. Since my uni doesn't have access to OED, can someone with a kind soul help me out?
https://redd.it/r9yaac
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Vapid Vs insipid
The have similar meaning any root word between them
https://redd.it/r9v9ll
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What exactly do "never", 'none', and "less" mean in Nevertheless, Nonetheless?
https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/q/32154
https://redd.it/r9pi83
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Ramses doesn't dance at the party.
https://redd.it/r9h1ph
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Source for etymology
Where do you look for learning etymology of words. Sometimes I could not remember the word meanings mnemonics are not helpful to me
https://redd.it/r94uvj
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The origin of the names of the 50 American states, A to H
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https://preview.redd.it/oamdyyc83l381.png?width=621&format=png&auto=webp&s=73888d42b756a21ade13f3f8edd94ab039f35a86
https://redd.it/r8y4xv
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Latin R/D dissimilation?
One time I was checking Wiktionary for the etymology for a Latin based word and according to the site the consonants in the middle of the word d-r (or r-d ?) were originally r-r, but I forgot the word. Similar to how merīdiēs (meridian) comes from *medīdiēs (r-d < d-d)
I you know other words like these I would also appreciate that
https://redd.it/r8p9oj
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A dictionary of wellerisms
Could somebody please share a copy of this lexicographical resource? My university library won't have access to it.
Pictures taken by a smartphone, two pages per picture is enough.
Thanks.
A dictionary of wellerisms
ISBN 9780195083187
https://redd.it/r8mil1
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Are पत्थर (patthar) and “πέτρα” (petra) cognate?
Both words mean rock in Hindi and Greek respectively and both languages come from Proto-Indo-European, so are they etymologically related?
https://redd.it/r8h4vf
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šváb
The czech word for cockroach. Appearantly derived from German Schwabe, which is someone from a certain region of Germany
Very nice.
https://redd.it/r8bze6
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Adolecer - Spanish for "to suffer"
When learning this word I immediately thought of adolescent. The etymology for adolescent say it if from the Latin adolescere which means "to mature". Is there a relation to between these words or the roots? I'm also thinking doler might be another related verb in Spanish.
I'm super curious. Thanks
https://redd.it/r869cm
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Could the Sanskrit होतृ (hótṛ) and the Egyptian ḥtp (hotep) be related etymologically?
I'm not an expert, merely an a curious enthusiast. I know that these languages come from different root languages but the similarities of hótṛ and ḥtp in phonology and meaning suggest some type of connection.
https://redd.it/r83pvg
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the english word for onion means “unity” and i just think that’s really beautiful
https://redd.it/r82sgh
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Most people here probably know the fear of death is thanatophobia, but I was wondering whether there was an equivalent for the specific spear of funerals/crematoria?
Is there a specific word or does it simply get lumped in with necrophobia?
https://redd.it/r7zdpn
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Etymology of Bharatnatyam - is it just the Natyam (dance) of Bharat (India) or could this explanation be true? Or overlapping of both perhaps?
https://redd.it/r7r6zg
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Danish mystery word Majalos, Maypole?
If I search for the word "Majalos" I get the Wikipedia page for "Maypole": https://www.google.com/search?q=Majalos
However the Wikipedia page does not include the word Majalos, so how did it get indexed? There is no such word on Wiktionary. In fact there is no mention on the Internets what Majalos means except for one page of a town named Denmark, Illinois:
https://illinoisnewstoday.com/danish-art-group-hosting-saturday-events-local/183719/
>volunteers will need to wrap the Majalos
suggesting that it is a Danish word for Maypole, considering that wrapping the Maypole spirally is a tradition. To add to the evidence, the Danish word 'majtræ' (May tree) was an archaic word for the Maypole. Possibly a pre-Christian word that is now being popularized? Can anyone elucidate upon this word?
https://redd.it/r9v3xo
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Etymology map for the word “soul”.
https://redd.it/r9qw4v
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What's meaning of the word (shiʿ'rā) star and its etymology?
What's the etymology of the Arabic word الشعرى (shiʿ'rā) Sirius star?
Is contens twice syllables (shiʿ =ray, shine +rā= to seen, visible)so becomes literal translation" visible ray"?
https://redd.it/r9jzyb
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Is there a connection between the Sumerian city of Ur and the various time-related words from different languages that seem to echo the name of the city? Ie. ur (Swedish - clock), Uhr (German - time, clock, hour) and hour in English.
In Swedish ur- can also be used as a prefix to some words in order refer to something ancient and, similarly, in German ur- refers to to first of something.
If there is a connection, how has this connection been preserved in languages? Or is it a coincidence that Sumerians are credited with having innovated the 60 second/60 minute method of timekeeping and the word UR being closely related to time in some form in a handful of modern languages?
(this post was removed from /r/AskHistorians, wondering if it fits here better? Grateful for any answers!)
https://redd.it/r905y9
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PIE origins of saṃskrit word "Ṛušhi" ?
Also is there any other similar word closely related in phonetics and meaning in any of the sister languages ?
https://redd.it/r8sc06
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Can you help me with the etymology of my last name Greek?
Hello dear people,
my last name is Τσαντίλης (transcribed Tsantilis) and I can't stay unknowing of its origin, but sadly I can't understand Greek so all my research must be kind of crippled. I have though found two possible origins which highly differ in provenience:
1. τσαντίλα (tsantila): A piece of fabric used to make cheese out of milk, ultimately from Slavic "čedilo". Note how the original 'd' becomes Greek 'ντ': this is because Greek does not natively have the d-Plosive. It displays d with <nt>. If this etymology is correct, then all my family is steadily pronouncing the name incorrectly, as the European transcription should then be "Tsadilis".
2. τσάντα (tsanta): A bag, apparently for women, from Turkish "çanta" , ultimately from a Persian word transcribed as "tanče" that also means a bag.
Both these words can be related to what people do for a living, so a Tsantilis could originally have made fabric, cheese or bags. Which one is perhaps more probable? I do though have doubts with the second etymology because I do not know whether -ίλης can be a suffix. It's kind of important to me because I really want to know whether we (German residency) pronounce it incorrectly (my Greek father doesn't know anything about it).
Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
https://redd.it/r8mha0
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Are the words “atichoo (sneeze sound, pronunciation from ‘ring a ring or roses’)” and a tissue related in some way?
They just sound so similar. Is it a happy accident? Or is there a connection?
https://redd.it/r8ln2j
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Would it be fair to say most ethnic/cultural groups do not name themselves, but are named by neighbors?
https://redd.it/r8ebgn
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Where does the use of "all adjective" as an adverb come from? And what parts of the world currently use this phrasing?
I've noticed this in both the infamous Harry Potter fanfic My Immortal, and a historical fantasy book set in 1920s Georgia called Ring Shout.
>“Really?” asked Draco sensitively and he put his arm around me all protective.
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>"When the Klans ride in all gallant on their horses to save the day, white folk go wild"
I'm guessing from the context of Ring Shout that this comes from African-American Vernacular English. Is this true, and if so, is this evidence that My Immortal was likely written by an American?
https://redd.it/r893qh
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Nonplussed - from Latin "non plus" (no more) - i.e. a state where nothing more can be done or said
https://www.etymonline.com/word/Nonplussed?ref=etymonline_crossreference
https://redd.it/r87jce
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I was looking for answer and I thought it might be interesting for some redditors here. Why is P silent in words that start with PS?
I'm not a native English speaker and was wondering why P was silent in psychology and other words and it seems that it is only a basic rule about what sounds 'can' be pronounced. No mysterious explanation. Sighs
https://thelanguagenerds.com/2019/why-is-p-not-pronounced-in-words-like-psychology-and-pseudo-in-english-but-pronounced-in-other-languages/
https://redd.it/r84jl0
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Can I publish a paper?
I did some research on English words and their etymology, and found remarkable similarities with my native language. Is it possible to propose said connections so that these findings can be shared in the etymology community and get feedback?
About me: I have a science background but not etymology, where I'm an amateur but seems like a good idea to share.
Thanks in advance
https://redd.it/r7z4v0
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A suave kiss
Just went down a bit of an etym rabbithole trying to see what osculum can be associated with.
I think it's a cool-sounding word which I knew meant kiss, and it shows up in unexpected places like mouth parts of a sponge and place where two mathematical curves rub against each other.
Anyway, this investigation of kisses filled me in that osculum is just one kind of Latin kiss, this one being a little polite kiss such as on the cheek when saying hello. The more "Romantic" kiss is saviari, so I wondered what is this word related to?
And it doesn't mean "tongue" or anything; instead, via suavior, it just means "sweet", and is related to suave!
And you know who gets all the, ahem, suavior kisses, amiright?
https://redd.it/r7s92p
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What does it mean to “like” someone?
This is an extremely difficult question I have came to when diving into the etymology behind love… the Greeks believed that there were 8 forms (depending on the source) which essentially encompassed friends, family, all forms of lovers etc so then why did we shift from seeing love as having multiple meanings to just the one word we have today and then adding other abstract terms such as “liking” someone etc or is “liking” someone just modern societies way of saying we are showing eros or ludus forms of love?
If I need to post more details/information I can! Sadly the 47 page PowerPoint I created on this topic was at a time when I did not cite sources for personal assignments so it might require a fair amount of reverse leg work…
Edit: I just had an epiphany that the “love” project I’ve been working on over the past year has a critical flaw… the flaw is that I’ve been viewing love from the Greek forms (potentially outdated) relative to what the English language now has as words for the 8 forms the Greeks had… I’ve viewed it as love means whatever the person hearing it thinks it means thus rather then stay within what society tells us love is I’ve assumed that I know a better way with the word and that society is wrong… but aren’t all words just based off of what society changes them to mean? My entire life is a lie it seems haha
https://redd.it/r7o59q
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