Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 2 of 2 1 2
#74402 06/29/2002 9:14 PM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
But the question was to Spanish.

<<with hebrew being learned, i can't help but think other words have entered english, too>>

"Sandal" may be one.


#74403 06/29/2002 10:12 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858

sandal - 1382, from O.Fr. sandale, from L.
sandalium, from Gk. sandalion, dim. of
sandalon "sandal," probably from Persian.


#74404 06/29/2002 10:12 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858

sandal - 1382, from O.Fr. sandale, from L.
sandalium, from Gk. sandalion, dim. of
sandalon "sandal," probably from Persian.


#74405 06/30/2002 1:40 PM
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
IP, you have posed an interesting question. If I understand correctly, you are asking about words that have been incorporated into the Spanish language from the Arabic. I am quite sure that after 800 years of Arabic occupation the influence on Spanish was considerable. I'll dust off my Pequeño Larrousse Ilustrado when I get home and see if I can come up with some for you that might be of interest.


#74406 06/30/2002 2:37 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
i found one-- you can find it in Wordplay, my thread about cloth... (all dressed up in )


#74407 07/01/2002 10:23 AM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
veteran
Offline
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
Table of the Year for Wiccan and Pagans

Thanks wow - knew some but by no means all of this. All good stuff.

Just heard recently about how the Venerable Bede had a major change of heart regarding bringing Christianity to England. Rather than just wiping out all of the temples to "idols" they would be emptied, consecrated, then made into churches. He also didn't overdo the imposition of language, e.g. Easter (dedicated to the goddess Eostara, I believe) was never renamed, although there was a Christian equivalent. Paganism (more specifically the worship of Norse gods) lived happily alongside Christianity for many years, all the local kings wisely hedging their bets.

There was also a recreation of the Saints as Norse-style heroes who slew beasts and dragons and performed heroic feats. Hence the story the English patron saint St George and the Dragon, I imagine. The priests would probably have argued that symbolically speaking, the Saints did conquer dragons and serpents, these being representations of evil.

Very good salesman, was Bede.

Fisk


#74408 07/01/2002 10:40 AM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
veteran
Offline
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
Smithers ... does come up again and again, as a "name" for incompitennt handy man. (tho, in Fawlty Towers, they used O'Reilly)

Interesting one, Helen - so does that mean Smithers in The Simpsons is meant to represent an incompetent aide, or does that meaning only apply to men doing "real" work?

As far as I know we don't have a Britlish equivalent, i.e. a name applied to all incompetent handymen (though all contributions gratefully received, fellow Brits). The incompetent handyman in Fawlty Towers may have been an Irishman called O'Reilly, but neither fact is particularly significant, any more than the fact that the long-suffering, slightly incompetent but much-maligned waiter happens to come from Barcelona and is called Manuel.

- or, of course, the fact that the incompetent, dysfunctional and often deranged hotel owner is an Englishman called Basil.
Well, I tell a lie there. He could only be English.

Fisk


#74409 07/01/2002 10:52 AM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
veteran
Offline
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
I think they are parables for men : look beyond the facade to the woman beneath. Never lose your gentlemanly demeanor regardless of her whims and your rewards -- well!

Not being mislead by appearances is, of course, an excellent parable for everyone. I remember an episode of Lost in Space (showing my age here )which summarised it in as basic a manner as you can get. The ugly looking, slightly cantankerous alien was actually the goody, whereas the good-looking, reasonable-sounding human was the baddy. Of course it took the (errm) Robinsons a little while to see beyond appearances.

I remember being obliged to visit an old woman when I was a schoolboy. She was full of fascinating stories and obscure knowledge. I learned a lot, even if she never did change into a goddess.

And why, do you think, that Anu made a woman of Irish descent his High Priestess?
Indeed. But in that case she was already a goddess.


#74410 07/01/2002 11:13 AM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
veteran
Offline
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
to this day, celts, and even most anglo saxons, refrain from eating horse meat

We do indeed. But I'd always put it down to the fact that people build relationships with horses, and they're seen in a similar (though much more emotional) way to dogs and cats. Excellent if there's also a mythical basis, and if it's survived from before the Angles and Saxons came on the scene, that's something quite rare and precious.

all of the most powerful god were female, and gave birth.. giving birth is the most god like thing humans can do
I agree. This is where I fall out with Christianity - not only does the Mother get relegated to the back of the list (Father, Son and Holy Ghost/Spirit), but she also gets turned into a ghost . Oh, or a virgin, of course.

Enough on that subject I think!

Fisk


#74411 07/02/2002 5:25 AM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
muzhik - man - muzhichok (small man)

How does one pronounce the "zh"? Just curious...

---------

Feeling a little "Johnnie come lately", but...

"Old Man" refers directly (when I say it) to my father, and when a "motorcycle mama" (hello rhuby) speaks the words she is talking about her current "partner" (possibly, but not necessarily, her husband).


#74412 07/02/2002 6:43 AM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 29
newbie
newbie
Offline
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 29
I learned Russian for some time (actually it used to be compulsory but I liked it) - a very easy language for us, Poles, as we Slavs have all the phonems in common. zh is only a transcription of the Russian cyrylic letter, which is pronounced almost like French j (e.g. jardin), though the Slavic sound's a bit more harsh.

We use z with a dot above it to denote the same letter.

Just to get back on the track: in Polish the word for muzhichok would be czlowieczek; the same mechanism as in Russian because it derives from czlowiek - man. An interesting word is staruszek - the "cute and lovable" form of starzec: old man - which itself originates from staruch: "male crone"!


#74413 07/02/2002 4:08 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Dear vika: Forgive me if this is a repeat. "Old fogy" is an old man out of touch
with changes in customs, clinging to outmoded ones.


#74414 07/02/2002 8:05 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Dear Vika: Gaffer (g hard). A title of address, as "Gaffer Grey," "Good-day, Gaffer." About equal to "mate." (Anglo-Saxon, gefera, a
comrade.) Many think the word is "grandfather." (See Gammer.)


#74415 07/03/2002 9:24 AM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
veteran
Offline
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
us, Poles

Join the club Lukas , although in my case by blood only..

Have you seen our little Anglo-Polish sub-thread at and around:
http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=73525?




#74416 07/03/2002 11:33 AM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 29
newbie
newbie
Offline
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 29
Join the club Lukas

Yep, already joined it almost 18 months ago. I had a 'short' break but have been very cordially invited to come back and see what I was missing (thanks, Jackie ).

And I did follow your gowombki conversation although I felt forced to set off for lunch just in the middle of it...


#74417 07/03/2002 11:50 AM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
veteran
Offline
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
Yep, already joined it almost 18 months ago

Oh yes! How could I forget this one:
http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=8677 ?
Happy days.

I also did the "short" break and return bit..
http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=announcements&Number=71785

I did follow your gowombki conversation although I felt forced to set off for lunch just in the middle of it...

My last "Red Cross parcel" from my Mum has been used up, and it's more than a month until I see her next.



#74418 07/04/2002 3:48 PM
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Hi Pezcyclando©! On this side of the pond, the 'merkin one, we call them CARE packages. I get them, and give them too!


#74419 07/04/2002 5:13 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Dear consuelo: you get ten demerits for using "merkin" to refer to USns
We thrashed that one out a long time ago. "merkin" is a pubic wig, and is a joke in very poor taste
by Marin county types. Look in up in Quinion, at www.worldwidewords.com

What color merkin do you wear?

http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/merkin.htm


#74420 07/04/2002 5:17 PM
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
I just knew you'd be all over that one, Dr. Bill!
I'll see your ten demerits and raise you twenty, but as far as this goes:
What color merkin do you wear?
Even if I had need of one, it would still be "none of your steenkin' beeswax".



#74421 07/04/2002 5:20 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Dear consuelo: My pubic hair has thinned considerably, but I do not plan on
acquiring a prosthesis for it.


#74422 07/04/2002 9:46 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
veteran
Offline
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
we call them CARE packages. I get them, and give them too!

Hi Concyclando!

You mean Red Cross parcels are called CARE packages over there, or are we talking about mummies' best supplies? Or (like I was) both?

Pezcy Cola ©


#74423 07/04/2002 10:33 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
both-- CARE is non profit organization (like OXFam ?) that donates or ships and distributes oversea's food and famine relief.. so good natured people contribe to CARE, and when kids are away at school or camp or just away cause they are, good natured people pack up all the special foods you can't get there (where ever there is) and call them Care packages.. it works out nicely, but the sender shows they care, and recipent feels cared for..


Page 2 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2025 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 8.0.0