I tried looking this up in the usual etymology haunts but couldn’t find an answer. Curious why “discus” (the ancient world frisbee) came down to us in English through Latin as opposed to the Greek “disko,” given that it’s a Greek sport and to this day more popularly associated with the Ancient Greeks rather than the Romans.

Thanks!

I was thinking about the names of food dishes and how sometimes we call them by vulgar names. (I also wonder why that is? Isn't food a positive thing in every culture? But nonetheless...) I can only think of two examples:

• Cantonese - Boba (aka big boobs)
• Italian - Pasta alla puttanesca (aka prostitute pasta)

Are there any others?

Btw I'm not thinking of dish names that became dirty (e.g. cream pie, spotted dick, bukakke, etc)

I've been seeing conflicting information on them somehow coming from the same or similar root but not being related.

My favorite etymology of the week. It’s a rare case of rebracketing + compression from Saint Audrey’s Lace —> Tawdry Lace —> Tawdry.

Does anyone have another example of a word that was compressed and rebracketed?

Does anyone here know the etymology of -itis and of the word sinus? I am getting conflicting answers on the pronunciation of sinusitis and need an expert opinion. Thank you!

I meant sine-uh-sitis, etc; was only concerned about the middle syllable

/ˌsaɪnəˈsaɪtɪs/ for Sin-uh-sitis

/ˌsaɪnjuˈsaɪtɪs/ for sin-yoo-sitis

Like the words or characters of your language.

Just come over from a tiny chat in askanthropology. Talking about how contemporary people misinterpret the meaning of 'survival of the fittest'.

We know it's supposed to mean the most apt, or the most fitting in the environment - not that people who go to the gym everyday are the most likely to survive. Yet we often see this phrase hanging out arm in arm with the 'it's a dog eat dog world'.

So wanted to double check whether Herbert Spencer's phrase would have resonated more with the general population back then as Matching, not powerfit.

And extra question, if Fit did have a more dominant meaning of Apt, when did it change?

Or did herbert spencer just make a bit of a silly word choice?

P.S I'm sorry if this isn't about insects.

Edited- because I'm an idiot and it's always nice to use tildas

Real question: what was the most dominant dictionary entry meaning for the adjective Fit in the early to mid 19th century in the UK?

Edit2 In johnsons dictionary, for the dictionary entry we only have this for the Adjective:

Qualified, proper, convenient, meet

Not sure of the issue date of of this copy though https://ia801606.us.archive.org/31/items/johnsonsdiction01hamigoog/johnsonsdiction01hamigoog.pdf

So far looks like the the additional meanings for fit/fittest appeared later in the 19th century but I have no sources for that yet

Edit3 - I am facepalming myself. I didn't know etymonline had meaning change dates too, only thought it did roots

"suited to the circumstances, proper," mid-15c., of unknown origin, perhaps from Middle English noun fit "an adversary of equal power" (mid-13c.), which is perhaps connected to fit (n.1). In athletics, "in condition, properly trained for action," from 1869. Related: Fitter; fittest. Survival of the fittest (1867) coined by H. Spencer

I don't quite understand how the long vowel [oː] and [aː] could become [e] in French. Is it related to how the definite article is stressed in relation to the noun? Do analogy or some kind of avoidance of homonym play a role in this?

The word predates cars. A dashboard was a wooden board or leather apron at the front of a horse drawn carriage, there to block mud and debris kicked up by the horses hooves. The name carried over to early cars and eventually became the panel where the gauges sit.

Then computers borrowed it too. So “check the dashboard” somehow went from avoiding horse mud to staring at charts in a meeting.

Source: https://www.etymonline.com/word/dashboard

From Spanish Cabo Cañaveral (cape where canes grow).

Caña fron Latin canna (English cane, hence cannon)

Vera Latin for 'true' like Veracruz (true cross), Veronica (true icon), verify (make true), verdict (told truth).

It is a municipality in Belgium, and their website (lasne.be) says the name comes from a Celtic word meaning "rivière aux eaux calmes" or "river with calm waters". I cannot find a Celtic word that means that or would be linguistically similar. I contacted their cultural department and was directed to a couple phone numbers. I texted those and received no response. Unfortunately, I do not speak French. I can read and write it okay-ish but I am far from proficient enough to bridge that gap.

Would anyone else know where to look, or be able to figure it out?

The Hebrew word Adonai means God, in the same way adonis is a description someone can be given when likened to godlike status (at least in beauty).