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Thanks jheem; hadn't read this before....makes me wonder, what about monster then? Surely, it couldn't have applied only to the feminine!!  Girls, bring on the rolling pins! [glowering e]
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The Romans, on the other hand, couldn't give a damn about the language issue as long as the local tax farmers kept them cards and letters rollin' in ...
Yes, ironically, Latin survived in the various Romance languages in most parts of the western half of the empire. Norman held sway in court for a century or so, and then stuck it out in the law courts until the 17th century or so.
I always thought that the Normans ensured that Norman would be used by importing a newish top-down management from the continent.
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There's apparently a trend among the younger generation to attach -ster to names
Reminds me of the annoying SNL character (Rich?) who used to sit by the copy machine giving people silly nicknames -- "Steve!...Steve-o-rama!...The Stevester!... Makin' copies." I don't think he started it though. It has a vaguely 80s feel to it to me.
So, to sum up, I got nothin'.
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No, Maahey, monster is good old-fashioned Latin from monstrum 'evil omen, portent' from monstro 'to point out, show, indicate' from moneo 'to remind, warn, advise'. The Greek word for monster, teras (both nouns are neuter), gives us our prefix for trillions: kilo-, mega-, giga-, tera-, and then comes peta-.
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<i>There's apparently a trend among the younger generation to attach -ster to names (mostly one-syllable, I think), I guess as an affectionate form: jheemster, troyster, juanster, usw.</i>
No, but I like it. Most other (inflected) languages have a bunch of suffixes to use on people's names for hypocoristic reasons. Mostly diminuatives: e.g., Spanish José 'Joseph', Pepe 'Joe', Pepino 'Joey'; Italian Giacomo 'James', Giacomino 'Jim'; French Pierre 'Peter', Pierrot 'Pete'. You can see that this leads to longer names.
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Pooh-Bah
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I always thought that the Normans ensured that Norman would be used by importing a newish top-down management from the continent.
In a manner of speaking, yes. When Will-babe's hangers-on carved up the New Territories among them they brought in Norman and French "managers" - mostly clerics - to wring the max moolah out of the long-suffering Anglo-Saxon peasantry. The outcome of that was the English feudal system, of course, but as a precursor they replaced Anglo-Saxon with French and Latin in the local shire and hundreds courts. This ensured that the landlords understood legal proceedings even if those being proceeded against didn't ...
There was some balance, though. It suited the Norman overlords to keep many of the traditional rights intact and these were considered when cases were being adjudged. This, eventually, gave rise to the common law as we know and ?love? it.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Spanish José 'Joseph', Pepe 'Joe', Pepino 'Joey'Pepino is cucumber, nuncle. The name you're looking for here is Pepito. 
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Pepino is cucumber, nuncle. The name you're looking for here is Pepito.
Right you are, Consuelo! I always get Italian Giuseppe 'Joseph', Beppo 'Joe', Beppino 'Joey' mixed up. German also has Jupp and Sepp for 'Joe' in the Rheinland and Bavaria. Names and nicknames are a lot of fun! Onomastics is the study of names.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thanks for this new-to-me word, nuncle!
And yes... pepino is "cucumber" in both Spanish and Portuguese; the latter, which usually uses the -nho/a suffix to indicate the (affectionate) diminutive, will sometimes leave it by the wayside if a misunderstanding might occur. So it's also Pepito in Brazilian Portuguese, at least. Not so sure how they deal with it in the Paísinho.
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I had to look it up too, Anna, although I have the feeling it's been used here before. (Just Searched--yep, it has; Dr. Bill's given the def. at least twice!) Gurunet gives:
hy·poc·o·rism (hī-pŏk'ə-rĭz'əm, hī'pə-kôr'ĭz'əm, -kōr'-)
n.
1. A name of endearment; a pet name.
2. The use of such names.
[Late Latin hypocorisma, from Greek hupokorisma, from hupokorizesthai, to call by endearing names : hypo-, beneath, secretly; see hypo– + korizesthai, to caress (from koros, boyor korē, girl).]
The etymology given made me wonder if charisma is related.
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