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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
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the orthoepy of cicerone
While we're on about inappropriate threadage: how's about French chaperone, cognate with Italian cappuccino; Latin cicer 'chickpea' (aka Italian ceci, Spanish garbanzo); and, unfortunately, chicharrón has no accepted etymology, though it has a idiomatic meaning in Honduras and El Salvador, dar el chicharrón a alguien 'to kill'.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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old hand
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old hand
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How did chicharrón get thrown in there? I'm confused... My Spanish dictionary has: chicharra (cicada); chicharro (horse mackerel); chícharro (pea; but I learned guisante for green pea); chicharrón (pork crackling or processed pork). My head spins.... :0)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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How did chicharrón get thrown in there? I'm confused...
It came from a parallel thread, and was mentioned in passing.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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old hand
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old hand
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Ah, so. Found it. I'd never even heard "cicerone" used, ever, until the email. I think "tour guide" would have been way less pretentious in that quotation. :0)
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"cicerone"
Interesting factoid, cicerone was used as a verb starting in the late 18th century.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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old hand
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old hand
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(There are some who believe that Latin was pronounced as is modern Italian, as there are more than a few who believe that Classical Greek was pronounced as Modern Greek is, but I do not find their arguments convincing.) I don't know about Latin but I agree about the Greek. It is highly unlikely modern Greek pronunciation is very like ancient Greek. Among other things it was heavily influenced by several centuries of Turkish rule. Before that by Latin. The modern pronunciation of upsilon as 'f' (or perhaps 'v') in the diphthong 'eu' for example probably comes from the Turkish period. In ancient times it was probably pronounced as a true dipthong, something like 'you'. And there are many other changes that have occurred.
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