1883: Blood is Thicker than Water Feb 10, 2020
It is generally understood that "blood is thicker than water" refers to the importance of family over others, but a handful of scholars have taken the nearly opposite view over the years. While it should be noted that earliest known records about this phrase take the more commonly understood stance, those are in German. Looking not only at English records, but also Greek and later Arabic sources (replacing 'water' for 'milk'), similar phrases exist approximating "blood of a covenant (or shed in battle) is stronger than water of the womb". Ultimately, this view is not widely accepted, but even among the traditional interpretations, there is some disagreement as to what 'water' refers to as well.
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1882: New Kennings (Maybe) Feb 9, 2020
Kennings are defined by being metaphoric compounds, and while they are generally associated exclusively with Old English or Old Norse, the template for it is still in use in some ways. There are some limitations on how new kenning-like compounds are formed, because in some cases they relied on mythology, or other common metaphoric images, but modern words like 'skyscraper'—which is a metaphoric compound in its own right—are not so different to actual kennings like 'hron-rād' ('whale-road') for a river or 'vindauga' ('wind-eye') for a window.
1881: (Chick)Pea and (Garbanzo) Bean Feb 8, 2020
It is not uncommon that when a word loses meaning over time—or especially is adopted into another language—that meaning will then be added again. 'Chickpea' for instance, is not a variety of pea in the way snow peas or field peas are, and the name comes from the Latin 'cicer' which itself meant 'chickpea', but both the French, "pois chiche", and the English added the otherwise redundant 'pea' (or 'pois'). Moreover, when the Spanish word 'garbanzo' was adopted into English, it was renamed as 'garbanzo bean', again adding a modifier which was neither needed nor wholly accurate.
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1880: Re Feb 7, 2020
Re: the preposition re, it is one which is changing meaning in a way that's generally not so common. Traditionally, it is just a preposition used to mean "concerning the issue of", and is often confused with the word 'regarding' but used at the beginning of a sentence—or even sentence fragment—almost always. This view is changing somewhat, because enough people started using it in the middle of sentence. The difference—practically speaking—between using 're' in the middle of the sentence, compared to 'about' or 'concerning' is that those don't sound as much like unnecessary jargon, and many would still find 're' offputting in this place.
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1879: Ser and Estar Dichotomy Feb 6, 2020
There are lots of dichotomies that English only has semantically, which other languages have lexically. One is 'no' for an exclamation and a determiner, while German has 'nein' and 'kein' respectively. Another is in Spanish with the distinction between 'ser' and 'estar', both translating as 'to be' but with the former relating to permanent, or little-changing descriptions including names and nationalities, and the latter used for more transient things, like actions or personal locations. In some languages or dialects, there is a lack of any verb where 'estar' is used.
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1878: dump and deemster Feb 5, 2020
Following from actual '-ster' words which relate to professions, there are also some which are objects, in this case 'dumpster', that seem to as well, but this is not so simple. 'Dumpster' is a portmanteau for a brand name, from 'dump' and the occupational name 'Dempster', which itself from 'deemster', referring to a judge (i.e. someone who deems). Considering 'deem' is also related to 'doom', it worth noting that this relation to the justice system is still very far removed.
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1877: The New, Informal -ster Feb 4, 2020
The agentive '-ster' suffix, as in 'spinster' is no longer as productive as '-er', but that doesn't mean people have stopped generating new words with it. Other terms like 'hipster', 'bankster', and the proper nouns 'Napster' and 'Blockster' all feature a different, new use of '-ster', clearly separate from the origins as a feminine form of '-er'. This is thought to convey an particularly informal tone, and is increasingly popular for such causal registers.
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1876: Nuance around -ster Feb 3, 2020
The suffix '-ster' is traditionally the feminine equivalent for -er/-or, and many pairs still exist such as 'webster' from 'webber' (i.e. 'weaver') or 'brewster' and 'brewer'; if you have others, leave a comment. The problem with this view is, while it is certainly true for some, this wouldn't really make sense if you look at the rest of the list. Not only 'gangster', but also 'barrister' and others, which up until recently were only men—are often considered to have the '-ster' ending, so it is important to remember that even by the time of Middle English, this was less meaningful. A few are just red herrings too, like 'minister', which has a '-ter' suffix with a similar meaning attached to the same root as 'minus' i.e. lesser leader to a master, which has the same '-ter' suffix. There will be more on this tomorrow.
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1875: pumpkin and melon Feb 2, 2020
'Melon' comes from the 'Greek for 'apple', but so does 'pumpkin'. However, while 'mēlon' in Greek could refer to generic fruit—just as apple used to for English— 'mēlopepon' meant 'gourd-apple', and connoted gourds more than fruits. Hence, the Greek 'pepon' ('gourd') led to the English 'pumpkin'. There is an etymological root as well between 'pepon' and 'peptein', meaning 'to cook' but also 'to ripen', with the idea being that the fruit is cooked, or otherwise prepared by the Sun.
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1874: melon Feb 1, 2020
As mentioned the other day 'melon' comes from words meaning 'apple', though obviously not natively. Like with the English 'apple', the Greek 'mēlopepon' (apple-gourd) effectively uses 'apple' to mean 'fruit'; strictly speaking, 'mēlon' means ‘apples’ on its own, hence 'malic' (e.g. malic acid). For the rest of this topic, and how it relates to early agriculture and lewd slang, visit the patreon.
1873: First UK Political Party Names Jan 31, 2019
The first two political parties in the UK, the Whigs and the Tories are both derived of Celtic pejoratives. In the case of 'Whig', the term comes from 'whiggamore' which was coined for the 'Whiggamore Raid': a march on Edinburgh by the Kirk Party during the 3rd English Civil War. 'Whiggamore' actually means 'mare drivers' though, but was nickname for those who were anti-parliamentarian, and generally protestant.
'Tory' (not the same as the contemporary Conservative and Unionist party, even if the nickname is still used) on the other hand comes from Irish 'toraidhe' meaning 'outlaw' referring to Irish highwaymen or Scottish marauders. This name was then first pejoratively, then officially applied to the political party because of their support of the Catholics, specifically under King James II, a Catholic.
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1872: berry and apple Jan 30, 2020
Apples have been discussed here many times before, but it is not enough to just say it was a generic term for fruit. Almost any kind of produce, with the notable exception of berries, could be called an apple—or at least in compounds—in vegetables like cucumbers or 'earth-apples', actual fruits like bananas, 'apple of paradise', or even some nuts. Etymologically speaking, 'melon' and 'pumpkin' too have appley Indo-European roots (more on this another day). This is why you may see 'berry'—which was also somewhat generic—referred to as "the only native fruit name" other than 'apples', even if other fruits have roots in Old English.
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1871: Esperantist Persecution Jan 29, 2020
The turn of the last century saw the rise of many utopian visions, including socialism and fascism, and the targeting of Esperanto speakers—to the point of imprisonment and execution—was found in both. That's been mentioned here before, but it is worth noting that the respective reasons were very similar, despite many supposed difference in the two systems. Both fascist governments, in Germany and Japan, and Soviet governments feared supranational left-wing revolutionary ideas that underpinned the pacifistic Esperantist movement. This is still true in the case of the Soviets, who were themselves nominally revolutionaries hoping for a new, supranational left-wing society, because these Esperantists would be able to communicate outside of the Soviet union. Ironically, the only thing that stopped the Soviet persecution of Esperantists was an invasion of the Nazis, who also systematically attacked Esperantists, but less so numerically speaking.
Recommended reading: Concise Encyclopedia of the Original Literature of Esperanto, 1887-2007
1870: Esperanto and Tolstoy Jan 28, 2020
While more well known for War and Peace, Tolstoy was a passionate advocate for Esperanto. Apparently, his belief in Esperanto went as far as to think it was preparation for the Kingdom of G-d. In 1892, he wrote an article for the only Esperanto newspaper, the spread of which—from Germany to Russia—was then banned by the Tzar.
Get more on Esperanto and its Politics here.
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1869: Yad Vashem Jan 27, 2020
The name of the Israel's national Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem (יד ושם) is sometimes translated as 'a hand and a name', and while this is a possible meaning verbatim, it ignores the context. It comes from Isaiah 56:
"To them I will give within my temple and its walls a *memorial and a name* better than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever"
This verse deals with the concerns of those who can't have children, and will not have anyone to remember them, so this 'memorial' is far more suitable. However, the imagery of 'hand' is at once present in Hebrew, such as one might imagine a hand reaching out.
(This post is not endorsed by Yad Vashem, but there is a link attached in honor of Holocaust Memorial Day)
1868: Cold War Jan 27, 2020
You may here that the Cold War was so named because it did not see direct armed conflict. This is true, and it has led to the retronymic phrase 'hot war', but the term was invented and in use before the Cold War began. Usually, the phrase is linked to George Orwell back in 1945, and he was certainly not the only one to use this term. This is all to say that people referred to the Cold War as such even before it could be confirmed cold.
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1867: -berry and -berg Jan 25, 2020
English has both '-berg' and 'borough' and others in different place names, but another variant, '-berry' also exists. Although there are plenty of places named after plants, this actually exist as a dialectal form for both 'burrow' but also more often a 'mound; hill'. It is the latter meaning, however, which makes its way into place names in the place of '-berg'. Support Word Facts on patreon.com/wordfacts
1866: -gate (Street) Jan 24, 2020
There are lots of streets marked in the UK as '-gate', such as 'Highgate' in London is not actually related to 'gate' as a word for doors in a wall. Instead, it comes from the same root as the German (especially Austrian) 'Gasse' meaning 'street'. Many English words have German equivalents for which the main phonetic difference is [s] in German to [t] in English.
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1865: vindaloo and pho: European Roots Jan 23, 2020
Some of the most recognisable dishes of India and Vietnam respectively might include vindaloo and pho, but these actually come from Europe, sort of, and their etymologies reflect this, definitely. 'Vindaloo' is Portuguese, coming from the phrase 'vin d'alho' meaning ‘wine and garlic (sauce)’; NB: 'alho' is a compound related to 'aioli'. 'Pho' comes from when Vietnam was a French colony, and was introduced to "pot-au-feu". This literally means "pot on the fire", and was just a stew, usually beef with vegetables. Of course, with both of these, the style changed somewhat to accommodate local ingredients and preferences, as will always happen. If you know any surprisingly appropriated foods, right it in the comments
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1864: rape (Sussex) Jan 22, 2020
Another subdivision from among the historical English counties is 'rape' used in Sussex, but there is some debate about whether this is from the French or English, and not because no one wants to be associated with that word. Most people take this to be from the Old English rāp (rope), as this is how divisions would have been measured and shown. This is also found in a few other Germanic languages.
The other idea, though less popular, is that like the criminal sense of the word it comes from the Old French 'raper' meaning 'take by force', which did actually originally refer to land dating back to Latin. The reason for this thinking is that the Normans would have not wanted to adopt a local word, but local words are found throughout and after the Norman administration of England.
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