A-to-Z Challenge: Reflections

Well, April is over and we are back to “normal” blogging. I had a lot of fun with it of course, but man, did it get exhausting. There were some days I was so wiped that had to force myself just to respond to comments. I’d still do it again, though.

There were a lot of great blogs out there with a lot of great posts. Beautiful pictures, interesting stories, words I had never heard of. I’m just sorry that I didn’t have the time to comment on all the cool posts. If I skipped you, sorry! It’s not you, it’s me, I swear!

Anyway, I don’t have any real comments on how to improve it. My only complaint has nothing to do with the Challenge itself. It’s about Google+ and how much I absolutely loathe it. It’s the worst, most unintuitive system I’ve ever come across and that includes Windows 8. And unfortunately, a lot of people have their blogs connected through Google+, which means increasing frustration as I tried to figure out how to get to their Challenge posts when Google+ keeps trying to get me to sign in no I will not, leave me alone with your crappy excuse of a social network, Google.

Um. Okay. Got a bit carried away there.

So what about you? Did you have fun during April, whether or not you participated in the Challenge? Or do you just want to burn down Google+ and its incessant badgering to get you to join?

A-to-Z Challenge Theme Reveal

It’s almost here! Just over a week away now! And here’s my Theme Reveal post, which is why I’m posting a day early.

 

Come on. You know what I’m doing. It’s the same thing I did last year, and the year before that. It’s the same thing I do every Thursday pretty much without exception.

I love etymology. I think it’s fun and weird and interesting. The most bizarre words are related—black and bleach come from the same place, but ass (butt) and ass (donkey) do not. What the frigging HELL.

And that’s only the tip of the iceberg of bizarre things that are true about the words we say. So yes, I’m doing it again, and I can only assume I’ll do it again next year and the year after that and the year after that. Because it’s cool and there are plenty of subjects to analyze and also I don’t have to come up with any other post ideas for a month.

There you have it. Are you doing a theme for the Challenge this year? Are you doing the Challenge at all? What else do you have planned for April?

A-to-Z 2015 Reflections

 Woo!

Another April bites the dust. The Challenge is over and once again I completed it with twenty six days of etymology. I think my favorite day was X, just because of how perfect it was to do the letter and not a word starting with X because man, those are hard to find.

I had fun this year. I met some new people, I read all the cool things that you guys came up with for your posts. I didn’t get to as many blogs as I wanted, but sometimes I was just so tired that it was a struggle to pay my regular visits.

One thing that I think could be improved on following Challenges is finding blogs with topics you like. There were like a thousand blogs in the sign-up list, and while you can add tags as to what kind of blog you have, I think it’s too broad to be helpful, especially if a Challenge theme is only a small fraction of what the overall blog is like. Does that make sense? I was just thinking that maybe it would be better to have groups that you can sign up for, like for history lovers (yo!), photography, movies, etc., and you visit everyone in your group at least one day or something. It wouldn’t be mandatory, and you can sign up for as many groups as you want.

Anyway. Just my thoughts. Welcome to my blog, new followers and old. I usually have a random topic on Tuesdays, etymology on Thursdays, and a stick figure comic on Saturdays. So yeah. Have fun with that.

A-to-Z Challenge: Z

This is it! Last day! We get through zoom and we’re out of here!

Zoom actually has a specific year that it showed up: 1886. It’s what’s known as an “echoic” word, which is basically when a word is made from the onomatopoeia of something, I guess in this case quickly closing in on something. Maybe? It’s not clear. It actually gained popularity because the first aviators used it (I guess if anyone zooms around it’s one of them). It wasn’t until 1936 that the zoom lens was invented, taking its name from what the aviators did.

And that’s it! I’m out! Later!

Sources

Online Etymology Dictionary

Dictionary.com

A-to-Z Challenge: Y

Today’s word is yearn, because by now I’m yearning for the end of this month.

Yearn comes from the Old English giernan/geornan/giorna, to strive, be eager, beg, demand, things like that. It comes from the Proto Germanic gernjan, to desire, and Proto Indo European gher-, to like/want. Apparently it’s related to the word “hortatory”, which is encouraging someone, not a place to keep whores, and also the second word in as many days that I’ve never heard of. Anyone got any sentences for that one?

Sources

Online Etymology Dictionary

Dictionary.com

University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center

University of Texas at San Antonio’s page on Proto Indo European language

Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English

A-to-Z Challenge: X

X is the hardest letter to come up with a word for, which is why I think we should make it the “ch” sound. This challenge would be a lot easier, then. So what did I come up with for this year?

X. That’s it. The letter X. I literally started planning this a year ago so my recurring Secret Origins series would have the letter X fall in April. All for the Challenge. Or Xallenge.

Anyone? Anyone at all?

Oh, nuts to you guys.

The alphabet gif I always refer to doesn’t have much for X. Etruscan, the language we got our alphabet from, has kind of a Y with an extra line in the middle that they used for the “ks” sound, and then before that there’s the Greek chi, which is just an X. It’s not that surprising that the history of X ends with Greek, who used it for a hard kh sound. Now, the Greeks got the alphabet from the Phoenicians, who didn’t have an X (they did have a similar symbol in their history, but it was what turned into our T). So basically, X was invented by the Greeks because they liked to use different consonants for different vowel sounds.

Sources

Alphabet.gif

Omniglot

Ancient Scripts

Mysterious Etruscan

Phoenician.org

A-to-Z Challenge: W

We’re in the home stretch now! I’m suddenly feeling revitalized! So here’s wilt!

Wilt is fairly recent in that it showed up in the late seventeenth century. Amusingly enough, it comes from another English word that we don’t have anymore, welk. No, not whelk. This welk meant wilt, so I’m pretty sure. Anyway, welk comes from the Middle Dutch/Middle Low German word welkan, which is to wither and likely related to the Old High German irwelhen, become soft. Before that we’re back to Proto Germanic, where it’s welk again (fluctuating levels of complication; that’s language for you), and even earlier, it’s the Proto Indo European welg, which means wet (no, no idea how/why that switched). There’s also another word in English that comes from welg: welkin, meaning sky, which I never heard of before. Awesome points to anyone who can use that in a sentence and not sound ridiculous.

Sources

Online Etymology Dictionary

Dictionary.com

University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center

University of Texas at San Antonio’s page on Proto Indo European language

Encyclopaedia Britannica

University College London’s page on the History of the Dutch Language

A-to-Z Challenge: V

And now, because I’m feeling cheery, void.

Void first showed up in the early fourteenth century meaning vacant or to clear something away. It wasn’t until the early seventeenth century that it just meant unoccupied space in general, and the vacuum of space until a century after that. Anyway, void comes from the Anglo French/Old French voide/viude, empty, vast, or uncultivated. It comes from the classical Latin vocivos, empty, and vacuus, emptiness or void. And where vacuum comes from, of course.

Void: vacuum, but shorter and with a different consonant at the end.

Sources

Online Etymology Dictionary

Google Translate

University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center

Omniglot

Fordham University

A-to-Z Challenge: U

Today’s word: utility.

Utility first showed up in the late fourteenth century, meaning “fact of being useful”. It comes from the Old French utilite, usefulness, and classical Latin utilitatem, which has varied meanings, like useful and beneficial. Utilitatem comes from utilis, useful, and uti, use. And I mean it super comes from use because the word use comes from uti, too.

TL;DR: Utilities are useful things.

Sources

Online Etymology Dictionary

Google Translate

University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center

Omniglot

A-to-Z Challenge: T

Time and tide wait for no man.

Time. I’m trying to say that today’s word is time.

Time comes from the Old English tima, which meant, no fooling, limited space of time. It wasn’t until later that it meant a continuous amount of time, can you believe it? It comes from the Proto Germanic timon, time, and Proto Indo European di-mon-, a form of the word da, which is also the ancestor of tide.

Wait, WHAT?

Sources

Online Etymology Dictionary

University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center

University of Texas at San Antonio’s page on Proto Indo European language

Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English

A-to-Z Challenge: S

Safe! No clever things to add!

Safe first showed up in the early fourteenth century, from the Old French sauf and classical Latin salvus, saved. Though it looks it, salvus is not related to salve, but rather salus, safety, which also gave us salute and solid, weirdly enough. Salvus/salus can also be traced back to Proto Indo European, where it’s solwos, from sol, or whole. And something that’s whole is safe. Usually. I mean, something that isn’t whole can still be safe. But it’s better to be whole, right?

Sources

Online Etymology Dictionary

Google Translate

University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center

University of Texas at San Antonio’s page on Proto Indo European language

Omniglot

A-to-Z Challenge: R

Today’s word is roast, and I have got to stop coming up with things related to food because I’m making myself hungry.

Roast showed up in the late thirteenth century, meaning to cook by dry heat. It comes from the Old French rostir, roast or burn, and Frankish hraustjan, cook on a grate or gridiron (so, kind of like grilling). What I think is absolutely hilarious is that it’s related to the word roster—really! Because we get roster from the Dutch word rooster, which means grid, not a chicken (rooster the bird isn’t related to roast…probably), and a roster is a grid of words making a list. Rooster comes from the Middle Dutch roosten, to roast. So because we cooked on a metal grid, we have roster and roast.

Sources

Online Etymology Dictionary

Google Translate

University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center

University College London’s page History of the Dutch Language

A-to-Z Challenge: Q

I chose quaint for today’s word because it’s just always seemed weird to me.

Quaint showed up in the early thirteenth century (how quaint), coming from the Old French cointe, meaning knowledgeable, elegant, or arrogant (-_-). That comes from the classical Latin cognitus, which you might recognize as the origin for cognizance. Cognoscere is a mix of two words, the prefix com- (together) and gnoscere, to know (and gave us words like notice and notify...but not note). Anyway, when it first showed up, quaint meant something similar to its Old French counterpart. But a century later, it started meaning elaborate or skillfully made, and then a century after that, strange and clever. It wasn’t until the end of the eighteenth century that it meant what we currently use it as. Not that we use it much.

And I was certainly right about it being weird.

Sources

Online Etymology Dictionary

University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center

Omniglot

A-to-Z Challenge: P

Today’s word is plant because I wanted to etymologize it a long time ago and there wasn’t enough for one of my regular etymology posts. Perfect for here, though.

There are lots of plants. Green plants. Power plants. It’s also a word for burying or establishing or setting something somewhere or a million other synonyms. Plant—the kind that grows outside (or the act of putting something in the ground)—comes from the Old English plante, which was what they used for freshly planted herbs or young trees/shrubs. It comes from the classical Latin planta, which means (shockingly enough) plant. That word is also another word for sole, as in the sole of your foot, which means that plant may have its name because we walk on them with the soles of our feet and OMG that’s why, isn’t it?

Sources

Online Etymology Dictionary

Google Translate

Omniglot

Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English

A-to-Z Challenge: O

A-to-Z Challenge! Open! Because!

Open comes from the Old English open, which meant…not closed. Okay, they’re not even trying. Anyway, it comes from the Proto Germanic upana, put or set up, and Proto Indo European upo, over or up from under. If you think that word looks like up, it’s because it’s the origin of up, as well as the prefix sub-, which is used to indicate under.

So it goes from over to set up to not closed. Man, etymology is usually vague, but even I can’t see the thought process behind this one.

Sources

Online Etymology Dictionary

University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center

University of Texas at San Antonio’s page on Proto Indo European language

Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English

A-to-Z Challenge: N

Number! Because number. Running out of things to say here. Lasted longer than last year, though.

Number showed up in the early fourteenth century, from the Old French nombre and the classical Latin numerous, both of which are just number. What really amused me is that numerus comes from the Proto Indo European root nem, which means distribute or allot. Makes sense, of course, but nem is also the origin for the word for nemesis because “distribution” refers to distributing what is due, i.e. vengeance.

It couldn’t be more perfect, because who hasn’t felt that at some time, numbers are all out to get you? Especially math. If there’s anything truly evil, it’s definitely math.

Sources

Online Etymology Dictionary

University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center

University of Texas at San Antonio’s page on Proto Indo European language

Omniglot

A-to-Z Challenge: M

Halfway done. Just keep telling yourself that. Halfway done.

Anyway, merit.

Merit showed up in the early thirteenth century meaning, and I’m totally serious, spiritual credit, then, a century later, spiritual award. It comes from the Old French merite, which had meanings from wages to thanks to divine pity (I could not make this up). Before that itwas the classical Latin  meritum, which is just a merit, a service or kindness. It can be traced even further back to the Proto Indo European, (s)mer, assign.

So basically, a merit is afterlife points. I assume when you get enough, you can trade them in for a pencil case or something.

Sources

Online Etymology Dictionary

Google Translate

Omniglot

University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center

University of Texas at San Antonio’s page on Proto Indo European language

A-to-Z Challenge: L

Today I’m looking at loiter, because…well, I don’t really need to justify it. It’s my blog. I don’t know why I feel the need to.

Whatever.

Loiter showed up in the early fifteenth century with basically the same meaning, coming from the Middle Dutch loteren, erratic or to shake like a sail in a storm. It’s probably related to the Old English word lutian, which means lurk (although for the record is not related to our word lurk), as well as the word loddere, beggar...makes sense, as people are never at their  kindest when referring to the homeless.

An interesting backstory, isn’t it?

Sources

Online Etymology Dictionary

Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English

University College London’s page History of the Dutch Language

A-to-Z Challenge: K

Today’s word is keep because it’s the first word I could think of that started with K.

Keep comes from the Old English word cepan, which meant seize, hold…or observe. Hm. Anyway, before that, it was the Proto Germanic kopijan and then, while there are a few maybes, there’s nothing for sure. That observe definition means it might be related to the Old English capian, to look, and from observe we got “keep an eye on” and then just keep. It’s an interesting theory, for sure, and certainly crazy enough to be true!

Sources

Online Etymology Dictionary

University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center

Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English

A-to-Z Challenge: J

Today we’re looking at journey, and there’s more crazy letter switching!

Journey showed up in the early thirteenth century with pretty much the same meaning, coming from the Old French journee. Before that, in Vulgar Latin, it was actually diurnum, day, and in classical Latin, it’s diurnus, daily or daylong. Yes, that’s a d-to-j switch we’re talking about. I can’t explain the switch, but the reason journey is what we know it as is because of Middle English. Their word for journey meant a day, which got stretched to a day’s work, and then a day’s walk. From there, it morphed into what we know it as today.

Crazy, right? Oh, and if you want another j word that comes from diurnus, we have journal. That one makes more sense. Slightly.

Sources

Online Etymology Dictionary

Omniglot

University of Texas at Austin Linguistic Research Center

University of Texas at Arlington

Encyclopaedia Britannica