I'm not writing a book. And reader tend to get bored to read a very long entry. Hence, I will post 9-10 points in each entry.
Continued from PART I...
Please do not laugh in case your friend has wrongly spelled ‘big’
as ‘byg’. In 14th century, the famous poet Geoffrey Chaucer describe
a character in The Knight’s Tale as ‘Ful byg he was of brawn and eek of bones’.
It came from a Norwegian region ‘bugge’ and ‘bugga’, originally refer to
mighty, rich and powerful man.
Lust known as ‘list’ in Old English. 'List' commonly has been used for cheerful or delightful. For example ‘listless’ means
without pleasure. But then, it was written as 'lust' in the Canterbury Tales in 14th
century; ‘Ful lusty was the weder’ was pointed to the good weather. Then broadening
out to non-sexual (power, money, fame and etc) and sexual desire.
Clue also originally spelled as ‘clew’. But 'clew' also refers to a round object composed of coiled material such as ball of
thread or yarn. In Old English, ‘cliwen’ means ‘globe’. First time recorded as ‘clue’
was in 17th century by the adventurer Sir Kenelm Digby. But his
journal only been published later in 19th century; and then the word
‘clues’ has been frequently used by Sherlock Holmes.
‘Salary’ was originally came from the Latin word ‘sal’ means ‘salt’. In 1st century ᴀᴅ, the Roman soldiers were paid in salt. They later called it as ‘salarium’. Salt is very useful back then not only to add flavour but also as a preservative (not only for foodstuff but also wood and material). The word ‘salarye’ was found in poem Piers Plowman by William Langland, in 14th century. French later use ‘salaire’ for wages - for versatile than salary i.e earning, reward, income, tips (gratuities or pourboire).
 |
| Credit to Hello English |
Just by looking at the way of the spelling, we knew that the word of ‘manoeuvre’ came from French language. But actually, the word derived from Latin; combination of ‘manus’ (hand) and ‘operare’ (labour). Describing ‘manual labour’ because back then there’s no equipment nor machine; all work done by hand. In Old French, the spelling was ‘manovrer’ or ‘manouvrer’ refer to military exercise. In 18th century, the word ‘manure’ means fertilizer and animal dung.
‘Cabin’ has been known as animal den or grotto. While Shakespeare
used it as verb and also noun. “but now I am cabined…” to describe fear, frustration
and panic. And later, the word ‘cabane’
which came from French means wooden hut has been used when French required a word for living
quarters on a ship or cockpit of a plane; they borrowed back the English spelling
to ‘cabine’. Now ‘cabin’ refers to room on a ship or temporary shelter.
Same goes to ‘cottage’. We all know that cottage is an old-fashioned small house at the rural area. But in early 70’s, cottage is a gay argot for a pick up or sex in public lavatory.
'Lavatory' came from the word ‘lavabo’, from French word that refer to a basin for hand/feet wash. Apart from ‘lavabo’; ‘eau de toilette’, ‘toile’ and ‘bidet’ also derived from French but obviously nothing to do with toilet. ‘Eau de toilette’ means ‘little spray’. Or in our term, refer to fragrances or perfumes. While ‘toile’ means 'cloth' or 'fabric' and ‘bidet’ means 'pony' or something can be ridden.
When the time goes by, the lavatory become bigger in size (not only a basin). Now, we have bathroom, washroom, restroom, powder room, water closet (W.C), shithouse etc. Too long to mention? Here are some shortest version of toilet : loo, lav, lavvy, can, bog, shitter, crapper, karzy, netty, cludgie, heads etc. Please be careful when choosing name for your future kid(s), because john, jakes, jordan and jerry also means toilet.
Ironic, tulips flower which originally
from Turkey did not use its original name; but the name of turkey bird which
has NOTHING to do with Turkey has been stuck with most people in the world
especially American.
The 'turkey' bird species first domesticated in Mexico has been called ‘huexolotl’
from its gobbling noise. Then, they called it as Turkish chicken, which has been
imported into Europe from Turkish. Turks knew that the bird wasn’t theirs. They
called it ‘hindi’ or Indian chicken. Arabs called it as Deek ديك rom-e
means Roman (Italian) chicken. We, Malaysian call it as ‘Ayam Belanda’ means Dutch
chicken. Although eventually they sorted out that the chicken is actually same
species with African-based Guineafowl ɡɪnifaʊl, which has
been bought by Portuguese from Guinea, West Africa; the wrong source of name seems
like stuck forever with American, especially during Thanksgiving.
Tulip flower has a long story of cultivation, and the classification has been complex and controversial. In 10th century, the flower had been cultivated in Persia. Remained the name as ‘dulband’, refers to turban (headcover) in Persian. Taken by Turks, the flower has become the symbol of the Ottomans. Only until 16th century, the flower come to the attention of the Western European. When Western diplomats came to Ottoman court observed and reported on them. The flowers were rapidly introduced into Europe but the called it differently. Italian ‘tulipano’, French ‘tulipe’, German ‘tulpe’, British ‘tulpia/tulipa/tulipant’ and Dutch ‘tulp’. In 1630s, Netherland became frenzied and frequently portrayed in Dutch Golden Age paintings - Tulip Mania. Ever since, Netherlands has become tulip-related, especially for tourism and the major producer for the world market.
No comments:
Post a Comment