Recent questions tagged etymology

Description : Does anyone know a GOOD website that explains the meaning or etymology of given ("first") names?

Last Answer : I can’t vouch for them (and how would one even know if it’s a “good” site or not?) but here is this

Description : When was the first word written in print and what was it?

Last Answer : Define “print”, then tell us how many cognizant answers you should expect to such a question.

Description : Erudite and creative Fluther vocabularians, please help me find (or maybe create?) a word for this (please see details)?

Last Answer : In ancient Greece, a genos (Greek: γένος, race, stock, kin ,[1] plural γένη genē) was a social group claiming common descent, referred to by a single name https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ ... would easily apply to any race of sapient machines. No need to invent a new word. Genocide fits perfectly.

Description : Is it offensive to say "sorry" when you don't have any cash on you when approached by the homeless?

Last Answer : No – I think it’s a human thing to do.

Description : Where are the garbage flies until the garbage comes out?

Last Answer : Seriously, they’re attracted to the smell. Even if your garbage doesn’t smell to you, it’s attractive to the fries. Trash cans can become extremely smelly (and attractive) in the heat. A little moisture is all that will clinch it for them.

Description : In "PMD: Explorers of Time and Darkness", why does the human who turned into a pokemon and his partner call themselves (in Japanese) "Team Pokedans"?

Last Answer : answer:I’m not sure if you’re reffering to the anime or the video game. It’s called “pokepals” for overseas releases, which could be translated as pokemon friends. And of course, because they need a default name for the team.

Description : What are a few good online references for etymology?

Last Answer : answer:Welcome to Fluther! Here is the Online Etymology Dictionary that I frequently use.

Description : Is there a term for something less than "high availability"?

Last Answer : Increased availability.

Description : How can noises (like white noise) have colors?

Last Answer : I have a white noise app on my phone that has noises of all the colours you mentioned in your question. Wikipedia has a page on it that’s a rather fun read. My favourites are the Purple/Violet and White noises, the others feel weird :s

Description : Where does the saiga antelope get its name from?

Last Answer : It’s the russian name for antelope and has been used as the genus name. The full name is Saiga tatarica where tatarica comes from the are of Russia (Tatary) where they are found.

Description : Why is "Dick" a nickname for Richard?

Last Answer : answer:Richard is derived from the Germanic ric (ruler, leader, king) and hard (strong, brave, court), meaning powerful leader' as well as King's Court' The name Dick was used colloquially ... Hicket from Ricket. Some became surnames or parts of surnames. But in reality any man can be a Dick!

Description : Has "fabulous" become synonymous with "gay"?

Last Answer : Only if “awesome” is another way of saying “straight”.

Description : Where does the cry "Mayday!" originate?

Last Answer : From the French for “Help Me” – m’Aidez

Description : I have a question for you linguists and philos and biblios: why are tough and enough not pronounced like cough, and why are slouch and couch not pronounced like touch?

Last Answer : I would love to know it as well, I keep forgetting to ask this. Now that I’m here, how come the “e” at the end of a word changes it’s sound sometimes. Example: Dove (Dough’ve) ,vs Dove (Duv) Rule (R-uu-le) ,vs Dove (Duv)

Description : What is 'S' in latin grammar. Singular or something else?

Last Answer : Actually, Latin word to hunt' is venor, tion' is not a Latin suffix. Words ending in an s' in Latin can mean many things, depending whether it is a noun, verb, masculine, feminine, etc. For ... ' in Latin is venatio, but I am pretty rusty. The plural present for we hunt' should be venatamus.

Description : Why makes highways in California so effin' special?

Last Answer : They’re purdy.

Description : Can you share examples of txtspeak from other languages?

Last Answer : Great question! The only French bit I know is “a+”, for ”à plus tard”, “see you later”.

Description : Does the term ask-public stand for a treasure and other ill-gotten gains used for the purposes of purchasing an evening with a prostitute?

Last Answer : Amusing in a way, but I find the Wikipedia vandalism to be highly annoying most of the time. I mean, people use it to find legitimate information for reports, school work, personal information, etc. Damn griefers. :P

Description : What is Flo Rock?

Last Answer : What part of the west coast? I’ve never seen it.

Description : What is the origin and etymology of the word SINCERE?

Last Answer : Wikipedia would love to answer that.

Description : Where did the phrase "neck of the woods" come from?

Last Answer : Arm of the sea, Mother Nature's bosom, shoulder of the road, teeth of the storm, eye of the hurricane, spit (?) of land, a mountain in the Adirondack 46's called "Nippletop, " and many ... figurative speech in most cases. Originally, "neck of the woods" meant a narrow woodland and then got expanded.

Description : why is a tank top called a tank top?

Last Answer : because it resembles a swim suit… swimming pools used to be called swimming tanks, and so swim suits were called tank suits.

Description : Is there such a thing as a "second world" country?

Last Answer : answer:http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/third_world_countries.htm This sums it up nicely.

Description : Cerebullum vs. Antebellum?

Last Answer : answer:both are latin, but the similarity is coincidence. cerebellum is form the diminutive form of cerebrum, and means “little brain”. antebellum is from ante which means “before” and bellum which means “war”.

Description : Is there any word (acceptable) that you have an aversion to?

Last Answer : answer:Meniscus Just sounds gross.

Description : How do you pronounce the word "caramel"?

Last Answer : I always use the care-a-mel pronounciation. Many words are like that having different ways to say them. Either with the E sound or with the I sound? I use the E sound.

Description : What does this mean and what are its origins: "hair of the dog?"?

Last Answer : It's a shortened version of the expression Take the hair of the dog that bit you and is now used to refer to the practice of having a morning drink as a hangover cure. The expression ... on the wound would prevent rabies. The alcohol-related use of the term dates back at least to Shakespeare.

Description : Is there a name for the technique that House uses to solve problems?

Last Answer : Did you solve it by writing it out? If not, it may be a case of using the rubber ducking approach…. I don’t actually know a word for this problem solving technique. Maybe you should document it and call it the solo-brainstorming approach

Description : Why is the $ on the left, and the ¢ on the right?

Last Answer : Because that’s the way God made it.

Description : Why is a bull's eye called a bull's eye?

Last Answer : answer:the same reason a cow’s eye is called a cows eye. LOL sorry i don’t know.

Description : What is the etymology and history of your first name?

Last Answer : answer:All I know is that I got my name because it has been used in my family for years. I would say it is English. I don’t know what it means. P.S. my name is Daniel

Description : How did the word "Jackass" become pejorative?

Last Answer : Its the same as the word COW but for males. Sort of like C-nt and P-ick

Description : Would it be semantically correct for me to say I went to the ocean if I'm referring to the Gulf of Mexico?

Last Answer : Well it is connected to the ocean. But then again, all the oceans are connected. I’d say that you could get away with calling it part of the ocean.

Description : What's the history of the China Marker's name?

Last Answer : answer:Yes, it is because they were designed to write on smooth surfaces such as glass or china. From Pencil Things Info: This specialty pencil goes by many names - such as wax pencil, grease ... stone, ceramics, plastic, and mylar. It is easily removed from such surfaces with a dry tissue.