| Страниц в теме: < [1 2 3] > | Do you too find the origins of words fascinating? Автор темы: Sheila Wilson
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'S math sin (that's good in Scots Gaidhlig)
| | | | | The origins of breakfast. | Jan 24, 2009 |
Sheila Wilson wrote:
Then there are some that obviously have identical origins although the words are very different: English-speakers break their overnight fast with breakfast, the French with (petit-)déjeuner;
Anyone got anything to add, in any language combination?
Article from a local linguist: the origins of breakfast:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/thepress/4402997a13135.html
Try a Google search on 'loan words' for more info ...
| | | | Rachel Fell 
Великобритания
Local time: 22:48
французский => английский
+ ...
| That's what I'd heard, too. | Jan 24, 2009 |
Ildiko Laskay wrote:
As far as I know the term 'honeymoon' originated in Babylon about 4,000 years ago...
[Módosítva: 2009-01-24 06:40 GMT]
| | | | Nesrin
Великобритания
Local time: 22:48
английский => арабский
+ ...
| Honeymoon, and Earth | Jan 24, 2009 |
Ildiko Laskay wrote:
As far as I know the term 'honeymoon' originated in Babylon about 4,000 years ago. The bride's father would give the groom all the mead (honey beer) he wanted for a month after the wedding. The Babylonian calendar was a lunar calendar (based on the moon phases). So they started to call that month 'honey month', which is now called honeymoon.
[Módosítva: 2009-01-24 06:40 GMT]
Actually, in Persian (and possibly in Babylon too), the word for month and moon are one and the same (maah). So "Maah assal" means BOTH honeymonth and honeymoon. In English, the word "moon" was retained, while in Arabic, it is known as "shahr el-assal", honey month.
Very recently, an English student of Arabic told me that he learned the German word for "earth" is "Erde", which is very similar to the Arabic word "ard" (meaning earth). I felt so embarrassed, that having spoken those three languages all my life, I had never noticed the connection!
[Edited at 2009-01-24 12:00 GMT]
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Stéphanie Soudais (X)
Франция
Local time: 23:48
английский => французский
I've been told that "hot dog" comes from French. French people living in the "pays d'Auge" (an area in Normandy) used to eat hot sausages in bread. As the English have difficulty to pronounce "d'auge", it turned into "dog", hence "hot (sausages from) dog".
Never had confirmation of this story, tough
| | | | Mónica Algazi
Уругвай
Local time: 19:48
Член ProZ.com c 2005
английский => испанский
The Spanish word "bichicome", meaning a very poor, homeless man, comes from the English expression "beachcomber".
Great thread, Sheila!
| | | | | Like minded people | Jan 24, 2009 |
That's why I like Proz - I feel at home! I no longer feel an oddball for having asked for an etymological dictionary for Christmas when I was 11, and for the fact that I can happily spend hours poring over the columns in the DRAE for words beginning with Al - all those Arabic etymologies, oh so delightful.
| | | | JaneTranslates
Пуэрто-Рико
Local time: 18:48
испанский => английский
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| Zafacón and esmoquin | Jan 24, 2009 |
Zafacón, a Puerto Rican Spanish word meaning wastebasket, is said to have come from a U. S. military term for a trash barrel: "safety can."
Esmoquin, meaning a man's formal coat or tuxedo, comes from the English "smoking jacket."
Nesrin wrote:
I felt so embarrassed, that having spoken those three languages all my life, I had never noticed the connection!
I know that feeling, Nesrin! I have only one mother tongue (English), but I had been speaking Spanish for several years before it suddenly struck me that the name of Sacramento, California, meant "sacrament." That one should have been obvious even without any knowledge of Spanish!
One of my favorite memories of my mother: She had been picking up Spanish words here and there while visiting us in Puerto Rico. One day, in the middle of family devotions, her eyes and mouth popped open and she announced, "Chili con carne!" She had previously learned the word "carne" (meat) and had, in that moment, made the connection about chili with meat. I don't think she ever grasped, though, that "chili" (chile) means "hot pepper," not "red bean soup."
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Sheila Wilson
Испания
Local time: 22:48
Член ProZ.com c 2007
английский
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Автор темы | Just love the one about the beachcomber | Jan 24, 2009 |
Thanks Monica for this:
The Spanish word "bichicome", meaning a very poor, homeless man, comes from the English expression "beachcomber".
That's priceless!
I suspect that in these days of Ebay trading, English beachcombers are probably quite well off. but not Spanish ones, apparently.
Aceavila - don't worry, you're in good company here!
Jane Translates - why is it that the penny sometimes refuses to drop? When I lived in Holland, I... See more Thanks Monica for this:
The Spanish word "bichicome", meaning a very poor, homeless man, comes from the English expression "beachcomber".
That's priceless!
I suspect that in these days of Ebay trading, English beachcombers are probably quite well off. but not Spanish ones, apparently.
Aceavila - don't worry, you're in good company here!
Jane Translates - why is it that the penny sometimes refuses to drop? When I lived in Holland, I was really quick on some words (eg Kado = cadeau in French = present in English), but the tiny step from Kleur to colour took months!
I remember arriving in France in 1996 and going through the albums in music shops, wondering why the signs referred to 'K7'. Of course, I was reading it as 'Kay seven', whilst the French pronunciation of this abbreviation was 'Ka-set' (cassette???). That took a while before the penny dropped too! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Great thread | Jan 25, 2009 |
Sheila Wilson wrote: I remember arriving in France in 1996 and going through the albums in music shops, wondering why the signs referred to 'K7'. Of course, I was reading it as 'Kay seven', whilst the French pronunciation of this abbreviation was 'Ka-set' (cassette???). That took a while before the penny dropped too!
Wonderful!
| | | | Stéphanie Soudais (X)
Франция
Local time: 23:48
английский => французский
Sheila Wilson wrote:
I remember arriving in France in 1996 and going through the albums in music shops, wondering why the signs referred to 'K7'. Of course, I was reading it as 'Kay seven', whilst the French pronunciation of this abbreviation was 'Ka-set' (cassette???). That took a while before the penny dropped too!
Apparently our French "canif" comes from the way we read the word "knife": k-nif
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Испания
Local time: 22:48
Член ProZ.com c 2007
английский
+ ...
Автор темы | The best yet - canif from knife? | Jan 25, 2009 |
Stéphanie Soudais wrote:
Apparently our French "canif" comes from the way we read the word "knife": k-nif
Thanks for that one Stéphanie. I hear the word frequently but I would never have made that connection, even though my students have enormous problems ignoring all those silent consonants we have in English. It's such a problem I've abandoned my real first name - Shelagh - as "Shellagg" really made me grind my teeth.
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| Another one ... | Jan 25, 2009 |
RichardDeegan wrote:
How could you forget "calico" (from Calcutta)?
Or, "shampoo", for that matter.
Shampoo originally meant head massage in several North Indian languages. Both the word and the concept were introduced to Britain from colonial India. The word shampoo in English is derived from Hindi chāmpo (चाँपो /tʃãːpoː/)[1]. Its English usage in Anglo-Indian dates to 1762[2]. In India the term chAmpo was used for head massage, usually with some form of hair oil[3].
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shampoo
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Испания
Local time: 22:48
Член ProZ.com c 2007
английский
+ ...
Автор темы | Words from/to ex-colonies | Jan 25, 2009 |
Thanks for the "Indian connection" words. I suppose it's only to be expected that words would cross between the two cultures, but it's particularly interesting the way the meaning changes on the way. For example, I knew the origin of the word gymkhana was Indian, but I assumed it had exactly the same meaning there.
I have a Madhur Jaffrey cookbook where she mentions a word from her childhood in India - they sometimes ate what she calls a "selice" with their meal. Now she knows it a... See more Thanks for the "Indian connection" words. I suppose it's only to be expected that words would cross between the two cultures, but it's particularly interesting the way the meaning changes on the way. For example, I knew the origin of the word gymkhana was Indian, but I assumed it had exactly the same meaning there.
I have a Madhur Jaffrey cookbook where she mentions a word from her childhood in India - they sometimes ate what she calls a "selice" with their meal. Now she knows it as a slice of bread, but at the time she thought it was an Indian word. I imagine there are a lot of other English words that have been adopted by Indian households. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | A selection ... | Jan 27, 2009 |
Clothing names and fabrics: jersey, cardigan, breeches/breeks/britches, trousers/trews, stockings, muslin, corduroy, denim, manchester
New inventions: kaleidoscope
Trade-names eg lux/hoover the carpet, formica
Shortened forms eg fridge, car , microwave, vacuum (v), lino
Social phenomena: snake oil, quackery, philistinism, luddite
Folklore: Rumpelstiltskin, Cinderella
Foods: Turkish delight, syrup
Horses: stirrup
Dogs: labrador, beagle
Surname... See more Clothing names and fabrics: jersey, cardigan, breeches/breeks/britches, trousers/trews, stockings, muslin, corduroy, denim, manchester
New inventions: kaleidoscope
Trade-names eg lux/hoover the carpet, formica
Shortened forms eg fridge, car , microwave, vacuum (v), lino
Social phenomena: snake oil, quackery, philistinism, luddite
Folklore: Rumpelstiltskin, Cinderella
Foods: Turkish delight, syrup
Horses: stirrup
Dogs: labrador, beagle
Surnames/Trades: Smith, Draper, Mercer, Miller, Farmer, etc.
wife = woman eg housewife, fishwife
husband, husbandry
trades: haberdasher, - monger, millener
Reference books: atlas, thesaurus, bestiary, almanac
Latin: calendar, auspicious, augury, lecturn, mile, century
Greek: orthodox, hermetic seal
Idiom: black sheep, tall poppy ▲ Collapse
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