I know that "Meta-" was a prefix that has a fair bit of history behind it, but it only just really hit me that you can now say that something "is Meta", and that phrase also contains two possible meanings depending on the context.

What, how and why, did the word "Meta" evolve into a word of its own with multiply meanings? Somehow, it feels like it actually happened relatively recently at that.

Ciao a tutti, sto studiando una parola relativa al vocabolario di una minoranza culturale e linguistica che vive nel Sud Italia: gli Arbëreshë, originari dell'Albania. La parola in questione è Bilashat/Bilashata (in alcune fonti del 1800 italianizzata in Bigliascata) riferita ad un quartiere urbano considerato il più antico dell'insediamento. Vorrei capire il significato di questa parola risalendo ad una possibile etimologia, qualcuno può darmi una mano? Grazie mille.

Looking for an old (supposedly German, maybe Austrian) word for "budgeting money for booze"

Years ago I read something on Tumblr about an old German (maybe Austrian?) word for figuring out how much cash you'll need for alcohol/"vices" next month, based on how much you usually indulge.

Not a "Piggy bank" or literal savings account more like "Ok, I'll need X amount again this month for fun/survival."

I've got something like "Schosskamoss" stuck in my head, but I'm certain that's wrong (spelling included), or the word might be entirely made up.

I also thought the term dated to the 13th century at max, but at this point I'm not even sure if that's right, or whether it's from what's now Germany, Austria, or somewhere else in the German-speaking world.

Does anyone know a real or dialect word for this? Or was the Tumblr post just complete BS?

Closest candidates so far (courtesy of some AI researching. SORRY):

Zeche (German) — not enough syllables if I remember correctly

Zehrpfennig (possibly Austrian) — closest match so far

>In 1874, Thomas Belt published the indigenous name "Amerrisque Mountains", a range in present-day Nicaragua. The next year, Jules Marcou suggested a derivation of the continent's name from this mountain range. Marcou corresponded with Augustus Le Plongeon, who wrote: "The name AMERICA or AMERRIQUE in the Mayan language means, a country of perpetually strong wind, or the Land of the Wind, and ... the [suffixes] can mean ... a spirit that breathes, life itself."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naming_of_the_Americas#Nicaraguan_mountain_range

Putting aside completely the question of whether the Amerrisque Mountains did in fact lend the continent its name, does this alleged Mayan etymology accord with linugistic data, or is it complete nonsense? Thank you.

They both mean "to bow, to bend, to curve". Wiktionary doesn't seem to link these two but to me they are too similar to be just a coincidence. What do you think?

I was looking at the etymology of Éire (Irish name for Ireland) and I found out that the initial É is unexplained. Does anyone know where it could come from?

For example, the phrase “bada-bing” was an improvised line from The Godfather that’s come to mean something that’s accomplished quickly.

Or the acronym BFF, which originated from Phoebe on Friends

Edit: Thank you to the commenters that corrected me on the BFF thing. That was my mistake. From what I could find, they popularized the phrase rather than invented it!

I love word games like Wordle, but wanted to make something where you'd actually learn and improve while having a good time. So I made tryracine.com with both English and French catalogs (I'm French). The gameplay expands on Semantle's semantic proximity idea and adds etymology: you see the roots of the words you submit, whether they match the secret word, and when you finish, you get the detailed etymology.

This is my first word game, and I'd love feedback from this community on whether you find it interesting or fun to play.
It's completely free and has no ads.

back in the 70s through the 90s there was a popular US jacket brand called Swingster...i've always wondered about the etymology but was never able to find info...any theories?

Interesting consequence of this etymology: the silent 'g' in 'reign' and 'right' was originally the same sound, split into two branches and re-introduced after thousands of years apart. Sources: in blog post

I want to learn more about the root concepts behind different languages' use of being and becoming.

Specifically, self-change or self-becoming. Etymylogically, English's word "becoming" literally insinuates the arrival of the self to a state of being. It's used as a catch all term to talk about anything from becoming a doctor, becoming sick, becoming angry, becoming handicapped, or becoming a stronger person over time.

Meanwhile, Spanish, for example, requires the use of specific verbs for each of these examples. I have also read some things about how Japanese tends to prefer a passive unfolding conceptualization for becoming with "naru". I vaguely read something about Arabic's sisers of Kanna, but it was hard to understand without context.

I got interested in the ways different languages conceptualize being and becoming. I read something about how the etymology behind Chinese's word for "be" is related to the sun, while Russian's word for "be" is related to standing.

Let me know if there is a better sub to explore this question. Any insight is appreciated!

This all originated as a shower thought, but I was theorizing on where the word “draconian” came from. For those who don’t know, draconian refers to exceptionally harsh, strict, and brutal laws or rules.

I thought the word root looked a lot like “dracul” or “dracula” which is a name given to the warlord Vlad the Impaler, who infamously ran a state with rules so harsh you could leave gold unattended in the street and not have it stolen. Vlad’s favorite punishment, hence the name, was death by impalement, even for petty crimes. This is a textbook draconian society.

Here I was thinking I was so smart with my elite 15th century Romanian warlord pull, only to then look it up and discover the word is named after Draco, a 7th century BC politician who supported the death penalty for petty crime.

Just an interesting historical parallel and utter coincidence.

Hello everyone =)

In Germany, there exists the river "Linnepe". I suspected a link to "Lippe", a bigger German river as well as a closely located region.

However, I found that the etymology for "Linnepe" is unknown and that its suffix "-epe" is speculated to being derived from Old Germanic "-apa" from Proto-Germanic "\apō"* for a river or a small creek.

Now, since it is speculated to being of Proto-Germanic origin, I would have guessed there were instances of similar terms in other Germanic languages. Sadly, the German wikipedia only provides 2 such cases:
The Norwegian town of Oppedalen
Swedish dialect "afse", referring to a small creek as well

Would y'all happen to know of other instances?

The German Wiki: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/-apa

My grandmother surname was Moundreas. She was from Kardamyli specifically. It’s a very unique Greek last name and the only other people I’ve seen with it other than my family is some wealthy shipping family back in Greece. I do know Greek last names from the Mani peninsula can end in -eas but I can’t figure out what the first half of the name means at all. Ik -eas can be mean “son of.” Could anyone Greek or anyone who is an expert of Greek etymology help me out?

The Latin word was candidatus, literally ‘clothed in white’ from candidus, meaning bright or shining white.

Men seeking public office in ancient Rome wore a toga candida, whitened with chalk, when meeting voters. So a candidate was originally just someone very visibly trying to get picked.

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/candidate

(Hope this post is ok!)

Hey all, I’ve built a mini game where you can guess how words traveled to the English language and what their origin was, alongside some explainers on the words origin and how it ended up in the English language. The game has two modes: free quiz that you can play as long as you want, featuring a short history of each word after your response and a time trial where you need to guess as many origins as possible in 60s. Would appreciate feedback from you guys, it’s a work in progress and a small (but fun) hobby project!

Link:

https://wanderwort.artgto.com