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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Fun with etymology: canapé #178796 08/17/2008 9:55 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York I ran across this while playing a FunTrivia quiz. 13. If you're eating canapés, you're consuming a small piece of bread or a cracker with something savory on top. Had you been an ancient Greek eating a konops, what would you have been devouring? (Hint: the wrong answers won't bite you.) Your answer: A mosquito The etymologic journey from mosquitoes to canapés included some twists and turns. The "konopos" (mosquito) gave birth to the "konopion", the curtain around the couch to keep the mosquitoes away. Via Latin, "canapé" came into the French language, referring to the couch rather than the curtain. "Canape" was then applied to bread squares with a savory topping because of the snack's perceived resemblance to a couch. In English, the sense of "curtain" prevailed and resulted in the English word "canopy". Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Fun with etymology: canapé AnnaStrophic #178801 08/18/2008 2:14 AM Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,067 Tasmania The Pook old hand The Pook old hand Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,067 Tasmania Interesting. An effort worthy of zmjezhd. Last edited by The Pook; 08/18/2008 2:17 AM. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Fun with etymology: canapé The Pook #178846 08/20/2008 8:49 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York I just love the way it works around. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Fun with etymology: canapé AnnaStrophic #178847 08/20/2008 9:14 PM Joined: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,526 Virginia, USA TheFallibleFiend veteran TheFallibleFiend veteran Joined: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,526 Virginia, USA I wondered whether this might be related to "canopic" as in "canopic jar." Wiktionary says it comes from the name of the city, Canopus. But wiki also says that 'canopy' comes from the Latin name of the Egyptian city of Canopus. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Fun with etymology: canapé TheFallibleFiend #178848 08/20/2008 11:19 PM Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh Canopic is from Greek Κανωπος Kanōpos is a proper name. It's a city in Egypt and supposedly the name of a ship's pilot who died there from a snake bite. The etymology of Greek κωνωψ kōnōps 'mosquito' is problematic, or so says Chaintraine in his etymological dictionary of Greek. (it may be from an Egyptian word and influenced by Greek κωνος 'pine cone'. Ceci n'est pas un seing. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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