|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055
old hand
|
OP
old hand
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055 |
Quick quiz question for the day:
What is 'spa' short for?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
a WAG- a german (or germanic) word for spray or spritz--something to do with water..
since i think of Baths (as in Bath, england) as being a prime characteristic of a spa. (though now days, its all about manicures, and facials, and personal grooming, not taking a water cure!)
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027
old hand
|
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027 |
Despite the appearance, for once this is neither an abbreviation nor an acronym. "Yourdictionary.com" has that to say: Regional Note: The word spa, taken from the name of the famous mineral springs in Spa, Belgium, has become a common noun denoting any place with a medicinal or mineral spring. Less well known is its Eastern New England sense, "soda fountain," probably an allusion to the carbonated or "mineral" water that is a staple ingredient of many soda fountain concoctions.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055
old hand
|
OP
old hand
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055 |
Well that's funny, cause that was my first instinct, to assume it was the place Spa - but I was thinking of Hungary not Belgium. I was very surprised therefore to read a number of sources today that stated quite clearly that Spa was a Latin abbreviation for 'Sanus per Aquaum' (health through water).
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
sanus per aquamI doubt it. It sounds like folk etymology to me. The dictionaries I looked at give the Belgian placename as the origin. Note the earliest spelling spaw(e) in 17th century citations. Maybe it was from sanus per aquam, id est water. ![](http://wordsmith.org/board/images/graemlins/wink.gif)
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230 |
Quote:
sanus per aquam
I doubt it. It sounds like folk etymology to me. The dictionaries I looked at give the Belgian placename as the origin. Note the earliest spelling spaw(e) in 17th century citations. Maybe it was from sanus per aquam, id est water.
I am sure this has come up before, but are there ANY reliably confirmed acronym-derived etymologies that predate the 20th century? Spa is just the latest in a list that includes, golf, f*ck, posh, etc. I'd love to know if there are any at all that are genuine.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Not in English, however there was once spotted a pre-20th comment about the invalidity of acronymic orign etymologies. Why one would have to comment about something that didn't exist is beyond me. However, they were fairly common in Hebrew pre-20th and we're not talking English here.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
Quote:
Well that's funny, cause that was my first instinct, to assume it was the place Spa - but I was thinking of Hungary not Belgium. I was very surprised therefore to read a number of sources today that stated quite clearly that Spa was a Latin abbreviation for 'Sanus per Aquaum' (health through water).
Not bad.
TEd
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Quote:
Not bad.
Now *that's funny.
Quote:
I was very surprised therefore to read a number of sources today that stated quite clearly that Spa was a Latin abbreviation for 'Sanus per Aquaum' (health through water).
Lots of things can be stated quite clearly. Doesn't make them true.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027
old hand
|
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027 |
Lots of things can be stated quite clearly. Doesn't make them true. Now, that's water-clear ![](http://wordsmith.org/board/images/graemlins/wink.gif)
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,412
Members9,182
|
Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
0 members (),
953
guests, and
2
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|