797: -ster ('gangsters' not 'gangers') Feb 12, 2017
Someone who bakes is a 'baker' and someone who runs is 'runner'. There are a class of words, however, for which the '-er' suffix appears as '-ster', as in someone who is in a gang is not a 'ganger' but a 'gangster', and someone who writes songs is a 'songster'. For this reason, someone can at the same time be a 'whippersnapper' and a 'youngster'. This suffix is only added to words due to convention at this point in time, but it was systematic in Middle, and Old English; '-estre' was the feminine form of the suffix demonstrating agency. As such, and as mentioned before, one who bakes is a 'baker' but the fairly common surname, 'Baxter' or 'Backster' comes from this feminine form, 'backster', and would indicate that there was likely a female baker in that person's family.
For more on the '-er' suffix, see the post on comparative adjectives.
796: alcohol and Arabic Words in Spanish Feb 11, 2017
In English, a few words beginning with 'al-' notably come from Arabic, in which this is the definite article. 'Alcohol', for example means literally 'the kohl'. Spanish has far more Arabic-influence dating back to Moorish occupation. There are hundreds of Spanish words which are easily identifiable as having come from Arabic, usually through the 'al-', though not always as in the case of the pretty informal, 'fulano' meaning 'so-and-so'. Many other Arabic words found in Spanish are formal and also used for governmental positions and laws, similar to many French loan-words in English, which you can see more about below. Funnily enough, a Spanish word for 'gibberish', 'algarabía' comes from the Arabic, "al-'arabiya" which means 'Arabic'. Those of you familiar with Spanish might think from this information that the singular masculine definite article, 'el' comes from the Arabic article, but in fact like most if not all Romantic articles, it comes from the Latin, 'ille, illa, illud' meaning 'that'.
French Words in English
Different words for meat (French and English)
795: Long and Short Vowels Feb 10, 2017
For someone speaking about American English vowels being either long or short, while most people can understand this what is intended, it is not accurate. Some languages like Old English, Latin, or Finnish do have comparatively short and long vowels, allowing for poetic meter to be measured in the total the amount of time it takes to say a line, with long vowels taking twice as long to utter. Some, but very few, languages have three phonemically separate lengths, such as Mixe spoken in Mexico. What have American English does have that's often confused with length is stress, which is used in a similar manner to length in terms of poetry, but does not relate to comparative amounts of time to say each syllable; this is almost always what someone will mean talking about long and short sounds in American English, though in some other dialects of English length does factor in phonetically. Sometimes the position of certain allophones such as the t in /kæt/ 'cat' will make the vowel appear longer than in other words like, /æpl̩/ 'apple' but this is because of the unvoiced consonant, t, not because of natural, comparative length.
794: Cute as a Button Feb 9, 2017
To be called "as cute as a button" would be certainly a compliment for most, regardless if either interlocutor does not indeed liken the listener to a button. There are a number of explanations one could find about why buttons of all things were selected: they're little and non-threatening; the word refers instead to flowers buddin'; but irrespective of the truth these all miss the underlying, and slightly dated insult within the phrase, which is also sometimes found as "as cute as a bug's ear". The word 'cute' may refer to someone's attractiveness, or to the feeling evoked by babies, animals, or things of that sort, but it started off meaning 'cleverness', and only later on from this the term was applied to general qualities besides being witty that someone might find attractive. This word comes from 'acute', which in the Latin, 'acutus' meant 'sharp' in the same way that 'sharp' means 'smart' today. To call someone "as cute as a button" in this way is to call someone "stupid".
793: adler (and German etymologies) Feb 8, 2017
Often in the etymologies found in English dictionaries or anywhere else, the roots may end with Latin, or "of Germanic origins" which often accompanies words from Old English. In other languages whose vocabularies are composed more uniformly from one linguistic predecessor, with some relatively few loan-words compared to English, this is tends not to be especially specific. In German, which has a far more Germanic vocabulary than English does, for words like 'Adler' meaning 'eagle' people need to delve a little deeper to learn anything. The word itself, which is also a fairly common last-name, is from Middle High German. 'Aar' which is a more poetic word for 'eagle' was used before this but soon it took on a meaning of "bird of prey" especially used in falconry. The word 'Adler' comes from 'edel' meaning, 'noble' combined with 'Aar'. This phrase was used to distinguish eagles from other hawks. Not all German etymologies are as story-like; the one for 'edel' is just that it comes from Low German.
For more on English's composition, click here.
792: New Latin Feb 7, 2017
Generally when people say, 'Latin' referring to the language, the variety spoken in the Classical period is being alluded to. Nevertheless, there are many forms of Latin, including Archaic Latin, Classical Latin, Ecclesiastical Latin, and Medieval Latin, which was used largely either by those in the Roman Empire, or educated people often in the clergy during the European Dark Ages. Still, this is not when Latin ended. New Latin, used from the 14th to the end of the 19th century was used for scholarly and especially scientific purposes as a European lingua franca for the educated. Writers such as Newton used this, and we get a number of English words today from this form of Latin, such as 'bronchus' referring to the divisions of the trachea.
For more on language-variations, see these links
791: Celtic Languages Feb 6, 2017
Through the first millennium BCE, Celtic languages were some of the most widely spoken throughout Europe from the Iberian Peninsula to Asia Minor. As time went on, with the movement of the Romans, Germanic tribes, and groups from the east, Celtic languages faded out of use. Now, there are only six Celtic languages, two of which were dead and only brought back after various revitalization efforts: Manx and Cornish, the others being Scots and Irish Gaelic, Welsh, and Breton. The only modernly spoken Celtic language spoken natively outside of the British Isles is Breton spoken in Brittany. Unfortunately, this is not an official language of France, and most of the speakers who use it are over sixty-five. In fact, Welsh is the only Celtic language not classified as endangered.
See more on lost languages here.
See more on lost languages here.
790: pupil Feb 5, 2017
It is not uncommon to have one word have multiple meanings, however semantically unrelated they may seem. The word 'pupil' in English means both a student, and is also the name for a part of the eye. In Latin, the term for a student came from a word meaning 'child' ('boy' or 'girl' depending on the gender'), 'pupus' which evolved into the Old French and Middle English 'pupille' meaning 'orphan'. The feminine form of this word, 'pupa' meant 'girl but it also meant 'little doll'. This gave rise to the meaning of the part of an eye so called for miniature reflection that is faintly visible.
For another word with separate two distinct meanings, see this.
For another word with separate two distinct meanings, see this.
789: Drive on a Parkway and Park on a Driveway Feb 4, 2017
It may seem odd to drive on a parkway and park on a driveway, but there is some reason to this. 'Parkways' were called such because long highways were and still are built with greenery along the side. In the 18th century, 'parking' meant planting trees and other such things, so the notion of a park being as different from the act of 'parking', now referring to making a car or any other moving object stationery, would only come around a while later, leading to the confusion of not parking in a parkway. The idea of parking on a driveway, on the other hand, made would also not have been sensible to the early drivers either. The first people to buy cars were usually wealthy and had sizable estates and had long driveways, the likes of which still exist in more rural areas. These led up to houses or barns where the cars could be parked, but without needing to park in the driveway. When more cars were affordable and the suburbs sprang up, driveways got shorter and shorter and people often had few other places to keep a car.
788: stationary versus stationery Feb 3, 2017
If you were to describe (naturally) immobile paper, would it be 'stationary stationery' or 'stationary stationery'? The answer is the latter option, but those two spellings are often confused due to the similar spelling and nearly identical pronunciation. In fact both words are derivatives of the word 'station' which is from the Latin 'stare' meaning ‘to stand’. As a point of fact this is not where the English, 'stare' is derived from though. 'Station' in Middle English denoted physical position, but also especially social position and in religious contexts ‘a holy place of pilgrimage (visited as one of a succession)’. 'Stationary' refers to the physical location, but so does 'stationery'. A 'stationer' was the owner of a store that did move around on a cart or a tent or some other kind of booth, especially denoting the seller of books which led to the meaning of 'stationery' as papers.
787: heathen, heath, and heather Feb 2, 2017
In a quite similar manner to the history of 'pagan' which you can see more about here, 'heathen' did not always have pejorative connotations. While now the word is only used to discuss certain religious groups, especially those other than Abrahamic religions and in particular Christianity, its origins with the Old English, 'hǣthen' meant someone who inhabited the rural country. The word 'heath' used to describe a bush or open, uncultivated land, comes from this same root. Likewise, the plant,'heather' appears in Old English place-names as 'hadre' but was mostly used in Scots. In the 18th century the spelling and pronunciation were changed to associate with 'heath'.
For more on religion-based swearing, see the link.
786: Switzerland (Helvetia) Feb 1, 2017
Many countries are known by other drastically different names in other languages for a number of reasons, usually due to colonialism. For more examples see the links below. Switzerland is no exception. For official purposes, the country is often referred to as Helvetia, and is abbreviated CH, which is seen on such items as license-plates. This stands for Confoederatio Helvetica, which is not only where the name for the font, helvetica, comes from, but also derives from the name given to the region by the Romans. Opposite to this, the French, German, and Italian names are all, 'Suisse', 'Schweiz', and 'Svizzera' respectively, much like the English. Therefore, unlike other place-names with imposed historically Latin-versions, Switzerland holds on to a great amount of influence from the Romans millennia ago, including some languages spoken in certain cantons that are quite similar to Latin spoken at the time.
785: draconian Jan 31, 2017
When you hear the word 'draconian' meaning, 'excessively harsh laws' this may remind you of all sorts of things, but it should not remind you of dragons. While the adjective comes the Greek name Drakōn, the root of which is 'draco', this is not the same as the word for 'serpent'. Instead, the word comes from the name of the first recorded Athenian legislator, Draco in Ancient Greece. He is know for replacing the existing code of law that only existed orally with written laws only that could only be in a law court. Before this, people took retributive action largely individually. The laws put in place were decided by the democratic rulings but his punishments were notably severe.
For more on the other sense of Draco, see this.
784: Clicks Jan 30, 2017
It can be odd to wrap one's head around the idea of consonantal clicks for those whom never grew up with certain (mostly) African languages. Clicks are consonants, and as such are still measured by how different parts of the body including the tongue, glottis, and lips prevent the flow of air. Most clicks, and all those found in African languages are ingressive, meaning that they move the air inwards. There are multiple types of clicks, and in some languages like Xhosa, these can be the most prevalent consonants. In Damin, spoken in Australia, there is one egressive click, which means that the only language outside of Africa to have clicks also has the only one produced by exhaling. Outside of these click tongues which incorporate these sounds into their standard words, anyone can produce these sounds, such as in the English, 'tsk-tsk'.
783: banjo and Phonological Restrictions Jan 29, 2017
English is constantly changing, and it has a number of factors that aid in this. English has few phonological rules which you can see more about here: Hawai'ian restrictions and here: kiSwahili restrictions, so it is very easy for words to enter the language. Still, the word 'banjo' could not be adopted into the language as it originally was. The African instrument's origins are not completely agreed upon, but considering other words like the Kimbundu's related 'mbanza', the word had to be modified as to not start with a nasal, M, and a plosive, B.
782: squeal, squeak, shriek, and screech Jan 28, 2017
Words that come from imitative origins tend to be very simple, earthly concepts. It does not mean, however, that these were going to be the earliest existing words, even if some of them can be dated back thousands of year. The verb, 'squeak' is certainly imitative, but it only entered this language in late Middle English; it took even longer for the word to be used as a noun, and likewise, 'squeal' only started at the same period. The verb 'shriek' entered a little while later as well, along with its the no longer used 'screak'. To finish off the list, 'screech' was used beginning in mid 16th century, though earlier the word, 'scritch' was used, both imitative. For more on the history and perception of imitative words, see these links.
781: Silbo Gomero Jan 27, 2017
Depending on what one's native language is and which language one would like to learn, it will either be easier or harder to do so based on how similar the grammar, vocabulary, syntax and other factors are. For more on the levels of difficulty a second language can be, click here. While as a general rule, languages within one family are easier to pick up, there are a few exceptions. Silbo Gomero is a Romance language, specifically it is a dialect of Spanish spoken in Gomero in the Canary Islands, but it is composed entirely whistling. Different notes replace the otherwise spoken sounds and is therefore able to be written the same as standard Spanish. The whistling can travel as much as five kilometers, and before cell-phones, this was the best way to communicate across a terrain filled with valleys and other natural obstacles. There was a decline in its use for a long time, but now thanks to local efforts, and its mandatory teaching in schools, it has made a comeback, and is quite popular with the tourists.
780: Supposed versus Suppose Jan 26, 2017
Spelling rules can be confusing and feel fairly arbitrary, but much like why any government has power, we are stuck with them so long as enough people agree to the status quo. In speech, the difference between 'suppose to' and 'supposed to' is, depending on accents, little to nonexistent; an omission of the D is generally made up for with the plosive sound of the T in 'to. Still, in formal settings, it is good to know that, 'suppose' is a verb, such as in, "You suppose that Word Facts is worth sharing" whereas "supposed" is a participle and functions like an adjective, usually as a predicate, as in "we are supposed to share these posts"; although there can be other, more nuanced functions, this is common, and often may be substituted with "should". Where this can be confusing is that, 'supposed' is also the perfect form of the verb, but this is the same form for most other English verbs in this tense, so most would know intuitively.
For other often confused words: click here
For other often confused words: click here
779: Understanding Language (Over Time) Jan 25, 2017
Children first learn to talk from mimicking the way that people, and parents in particular speak, evidenced with "hold you"—uttered sometimes as one single word—based off of phrases like, "do you want me to hold you". Later on, children learn to drop this and follow patterns, to a fault even; it would not be uncommon to hear one say, "I holded it"—not realizing that 'to hold' is a strong verb and conjugates to 'held'. As people grow older, a combination of both is adopted in order to understand more words. As such, rather than needing to learn every form of every word, people can gather what newer words—even invented words—mean, and terms like, 'Finlandization' which was only created fairly recently are still comprehensible without needing to be explained or formally broken down, as people assumedly know 'Finland', and that the suffix, '-ization' means 'quality of'.
For more on how babies talk click here
For more on strong verbs, click here
778: extra, extraordinary, and extradition Jan 24, 2017
Words like 'extra', 'extraordinary', and 'extradition' may look etymologically similar to each other based on the 'ex-', but this is not exactly so. 'Extra', to be clear, is the most related any word could be to 'extraordinary' in that it is supposed that it was created as shortening, with similar forms existing in French and German. 'Extraordinary' itself comes from the Latin phrase 'extra ordinem' meaning ‘outside the normal daily events’. Meanwhile however, 'extradition' just means 'out of tradition', with 'ex-' meaning, 'from'; 'tradition' in this case means, 'delivery' which was historically common but now is extraordinary.