A place for when you learn or figger-out the peculiar origins of words you had not previously questioned.
8 Likes
can we do this for computer words too? like im not going that far back in history but i hope its okay cuz i learned it just now and i think its interesting
im guessing with a bunch of computer people here everyone already knows it BUT I THINK ITS COOL OK
5 Likes
i love etymology. i like to play games when i’m bored where i try to guess what language we got a word from.
somebody brought this one up on a word website a long time ago, and it always stuck with me:
vanilla:
1660s, “pod of the vanilla plant,” from Spanish vainilla “vanilla plant,” literally “little pod,” diminutive of vaina “sheath,” from Latin vagina “sheath of an ear of grain, hull of a plant” (see vagina). So called from the shape of the pods.
it’s also fun to read the etymology section of wikipedia articles for various mythology deities and shit.
1 Like
I… yeah. Once you add the Spanish in there, the derivation suddenly bursts into relief.
As they will do.
There are a lot of SURPRISE! GENITALS! words.