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06.03.2026 22:22
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I’m so sorry
The surprisingly connected origins of "seismic" and "whittle".
#etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #seismic #earthquake #whittle
youtube.com/shorts/K_hmb...
Kash Patel’s impromptu trip to celebrate with the US men’s hockey team at the Olympics set a poor example as Director of the FBI when an important kidnapping and ransom case should have been his primary responsibility, and etymologically that’s fitting. The word example came into English from Old French essemple “sample, model, example, precedent, cautionary tale”, with its spelling re-Latinized from the original Latin exemplum “a sample, specimen; a copy, transcript”, literally meaning “that which is taken out”, from the verb eximere “to take out, take away, remove”, made up of the prefix ex- “out” + emere “to buy, purchase” (from the Proto-Indo-European root *em- “to take”). When this Latin verb is instead combined with the prefix pro- “before, forward, for” we get promere “to take out, give out, bring forth, produce”, with its past participle promptus producing the noun promptus “readiness, facility” and the phrase in promptu “in readiness”, becoming the French and then English word impromptu in the 17th c. When this same Latin verb is combined with yet another prefix, re(d)- “back”, we get redimere “to buy back, repurchase, redeem” and its noun form redemptio “a buying back, releasing, ransoming, redemption”, which both came into English as redemption and transformed in Old French to ranson “ransom, redemption”, borrowed into English and eventually becoming ransom. But I guess that’s what happens when you have unqualified and contemptible government officials, demonstrating that famous Latin proverb caveat emptor “let the buyer beware”.
The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is RANSOM/IMPROMPTU/EXAMPLE #wotd #ransom #impromptu #example #KashPatel
Looking to study the ancient world in Canada at the undergraduate or graduate level? Our list of departments in Canada is newly updated with links to information about programs of study at each school!
www.cac-scec.ca/classics-pro...
If you notice any inaccuracy about your department, let us know!
I mean who doesn’t want a little privacy at that moment
Laurentian University cried poverty when negotiating with faculty but had secretly given its president an 11% pay hike. Fuck Laurentian! Lynn Wells should resign immediately!
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
A bunch of rich people who run the Kansas government getting poor Kansans angry at transgender folks and now we have crap like this happening. What a disgrace. Vote all these transphobic scumbags out. www.erininthemorning.com/p/kansas-sen...
The surprisingly connected origins of "instrument" and "destroy". #etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #instrument #destroy
youtube.com/shorts/4O33v...
A momentary lapse in judgment when you’re in a valley in avalanche country can be a disaster, and that’s etymologically apt. The word avalanche was borrowed from French, from avalantze “descent” in the Romansch language of Switzerland, from lavantse in the Savoy dialect near the Italian border in the western Alps. The first part comes from French avaler “to descend”, from the phrase à val “to the valley”, in Latin ad vallem, from Latin vallis “valley”, which also came into English through French as valley. The second part of avalanche probably comes ultimately from Latin labi “to slip, slide”, which in its past participle form lapsus also came into English as lapse.
The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is AVALANCHE/VALLEY/LAPSE #wotd #avalanche #valley #lapse
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Day 1
The surprisingly connected origins of "cow" and "beef".
#etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #cow #beef #anglosaxons #normans
youtube.com/shorts/KssVg...
A luge is a kind of sled that slides down a track, and etymologically this may make sense. Sled and slide come from the Proto-Indo-European root *sleidh- “to slip, slide”, slide coming into English through Old English slidan and sled through Middle Low German sledde. Luge comes from the Savoy dialect of French, from Medieval Latin sludia, which may come from a Gaulish word from that same Proto-Indo-European root.
The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is LUGE/SLIDE #wotd #luge #sled #slide #Olympics2026
Suno costs money, and working class people have always made music. Even enslaved people have made music historically. And music has always been a powerful tool for social change
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The surprisingly connected origins of "assets", "sad", and "satisfy".
#etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #asset #sad #satisfy
youtube.com/shorts/SlY5h...
WOMEN AND METAL HAVE 5 MINUTES? HELP A GIRL OUT AND FILL OUT MY SURVEY ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCES AS FEMALE METAL FAN AND MISOGYNY ALL RESPONSES ARE ANONYMOUS Goldsmiths
Please share and/or fill this out if it applies to you: forms.gle/6TuZYUzhAznR...
"Female identifying metal fans- I need your input for my university research! I am currently gathering some stats around misogyny in metal music scenes…All reponses will be recorded as anonymous.”
What does curling have to do with grapes? Etymology! Curling gets its name from the way the stone curls on the ice, and can be traced back to the root *g(e)r- “curving, crooked”. This also produced Germanic *krappon “hook”, and from that Old French graper “catch with a hook, pick grapes”, so basically the word transferred from referring to the vine hook used for picking grapes to the grapes themselves, replacing the Old English word winberige, literally “wine berry”.
The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is CURLING/GRAPE #wotd #curling #grape #grapes #Olympics #Olympics2026 🥌 🍇
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The surprisingly connected origins of "detective" and "thug".
#etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #detective #thug
youtube.com/shorts/s97_z...
Being on strike can produce a certain amount of stress and strain, but even though this goes along with the etymological territory, ultimately it should have a very different effect. Strike used to have an almost opposite sense, “to touch softly, rub” and is related to stroke, with strike, stroke, strain, and stress all going back to *streig- “stroke, rub, press”. The more violent sense of “hit hard” didn’t appear until the 13th century, and the labour disruption sense developed in the 18th century, from the notion of downing one’s tools, particularly sailors striking the sails when they didn’t want to leave port.
The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is STRIKE/STRESS/STRAIN #wotd #strike #stress #strain
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