SFBA.social

David ThompsonNot quite sure if this is fully aligned to my corner of <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/mastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#mastodon</a>, but it's so delightfully nerdy that I had to share.These two dive into many terms for printing and <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/typography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#typography</a> that are still with us today.If you're into <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a>, <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/words" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#words</a>, <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/graphicdesign" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#graphicdesign</a>, or <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/webdesign" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#webdesign</a>, then you may enjoy.<a href="https://youtu.be/cd5iFbuNKv8" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/cd5iFbuNKv8</a>

Alliterative/Endless KnotIt’s <a href="https://toot.community/tags/GolfDay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GolfDay</a> – and we have a video for the occasion! Ever heard of the phrase “golf widow”? Well, it turns out that there are in fact some connections between widows, golf, and, surprisingly, India! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX1bFAs7MdM" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX1bFAs7MdM</a><a href="https://toot.community/tags/Etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Etymology</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/Video" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Video</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/WordNerd" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WordNerd</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/Linguistics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Linguistics</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/Words" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Words</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/HistoricalLinguistics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#HistoricalLinguistics</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/Golf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Golf</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/India" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#India</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/IronWidow" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#IronWidow</a>

Coach Pāṇini ®The word emolument originates from the Latin term emolumentum, which initially referred to a payment made to a miller for grinding grain. It derives from the root molere, meaning “to grind,” combined with ex- (“out”) to form emolere (“to grind out”). Over time, the meaning broadened to signify profit, gain, or advantage, particularly in the context of compensation for services or employment.<a href="https://mastodon.world/tags/language" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#language</a> <a href="https://mastodon.world/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a> <a href="https://mastodon.world/tags/history" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#history</a> <a href="https://mastodon.world/tags/emoluments" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#emoluments</a> <a href="https://mastodon.world/tags/American" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#American</a>

Jörg Knappen<a href="https://medic.cafe/@mikka" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@mikka</a> <a href="https://openbiblio.social/@girl_friday" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@girl_friday</a> Spannende Geschichte, nur die kolportierte Herleitung der Wörter Kretin und Kretinismus entspricht nicht dem Stand der Etymologieforschung. Das Wort Kretin ist sicher älter als der Begriff Kreatinin und wird aus dem französischen Dialekt des Wallis hergeleitet von crestien "christlich". (Siehe hierzu Duden <a href="https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Kretin" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Kretin</a> )<a href="https://nfdi.social/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a> <a href="https://nfdi.social/tags/etymologie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymologie</a>

Coach Pāṇini ®The word “evolve” originates from the Latin ēvolvere, meaning “to unroll” or “unfold.” It is derived from ē- (a variant of ex-, meaning “out of”) and volvere (“to roll”). Initially, it referred to the literal act of unrolling, such as a scroll or book.<a href="https://mastodon.world/tags/language" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#language</a> <a href="https://mastodon.world/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a> <a href="https://mastodon.world/tags/evolution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#evolution</a> <a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/bookstodon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@bookstodon</a>

Wordorigins.orgNancy Friedman has an enlightening and safe-for-work discussion of "smut" over on the Strong Language blog<a href="https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2025/04/09/smut/#more-9432" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2025/04/09/smut/#more-9432</a><a href="https://mastodon.sdf.org/tags/language" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#language</a> <a href="https://mastodon.sdf.org/tags/stronglanguage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#stronglanguage</a> <a href="https://mastodon.sdf.org/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a>

AbieWord of the day: Scuttlebutt, nautical, a butt (=cask) that has been scuttled(=pierced) to serve as a water tap on a ship. Hence: rumor, gossip. Compare to: water cooler. <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuttlebutt" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuttlebutt</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/motdujour" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#motdujour</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/wordoftheday" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#wordoftheday</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a>

mytwobits01I had always assumed the word "Panzer" was the German word for "panther". I was wrong! It comes from the Old French "panciere", meaning armor for the belly, deriving from Latin "pantex", which gave rise to English "paunch". Who knew!<a href="https://freeradical.zone/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a>

Alliterative/Endless KnotThe surprisingly connected origins of "task" and "tax". <a href="https://youtube.com/shorts/BgPyeuBxnB0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://youtube.com/shorts/BgPyeuBxnB0</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/wordnerd" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#wordnerd</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/linguistics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#linguistics</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/HistoricalLinguistics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#HistoricalLinguistics</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/language" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#language</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/words" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#words</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/lingcomm" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#lingcomm</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/task" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#task</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/tax" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#tax</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/taxes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#taxes</a>

Alliterative/Endless KnotHappy <a href="https://toot.community/tags/NationalGinAndTonicDay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NationalGinAndTonicDay</a>! Do you know the history of the two ingredients of this iconic drink? We get into that, and more, in our video on the Gimlet cocktail: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7jEH6E6l90" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7jEH6E6l90</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/InternationalGinAndTonicDay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#InternationalGinAndTonicDay</a><a href="https://toot.community/tags/Etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Etymology</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/Video" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Video</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/WordNerd" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WordNerd</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/Linguistics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Linguistics</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/Words" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Words</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/HistoricalLinguistics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#HistoricalLinguistics</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/GinAndTonic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GinAndTonic</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/Cocktail" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Cocktail</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/Gimlet" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Gimlet</a>

A Sweet GentlemanIf you read 19th-century French novels you'll find a lot of words coming from Arabic because, well... colonization. I always thought it was the case with "mousmé", a young girl.Great was my surprise yesterday when I learned it comes from the Japanese "musume"!I knew Japanese art had a lot of influence on French artists at the time but it never occurred to me it also influenced French language.<a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/literature" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#literature</a> <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/france" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#france</a> <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/japan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#japan</a> <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/history" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#history</a> <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a>

Wordorigins.orgMaundy Thursday<a href="https://www.wordorigins.org/big-list-entries/maundy-thursday" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.wordorigins.org/big-list-entries/maundy-thursday</a><a href="https://mastodon.sdf.org/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a> <a href="https://mastodon.sdf.org/tags/wordorigins" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#wordorigins</a> <a href="https://mastodon.sdf.org/tags/language" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#language</a>

Strong LanguageOn the 60th anniversary of Tom Lehrer’s song "Smut", <a href="https://mastodon.social/@Fritinancy" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@Fritinancy</a> offers a salute to Lehrer and to "a four-letter word that wasn't quite one of *those* four-letter words".On the Strong Language blog: <a href="https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2025/04/09/smut/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2025/04/09/smut/</a><a href="https://lingo.lol/tags/TomLehrer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TomLehrer</a> <a href="https://lingo.lol/tags/music" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#music</a> <a href="https://lingo.lol/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a> <a href="https://lingo.lol/tags/smut" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#smut</a> <a href="https://lingo.lol/tags/PopCulture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PopCulture</a> <a href="https://lingo.lol/tags/songs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#songs</a> <a href="https://lingo.lol/tags/StrongLanguage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#StrongLanguage</a>

Uilliam Mac ᚒᚔᚂᚂᚔᚐᚋPeople who self-identify as Maga will be pleased to learn that the English word tariff is a loan from French, and was loaned into French by this route: Italian < Medieval Latin < Turkish < Persian < Arabic. <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariff#:~:text='set%20price%2C%20receipt'.,%2C%20romanized%3A%20ta%CA%BFr%C4%ABf%2C%20lit" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariff#:~:text='set%20price%2C%20receipt'.,%2C%20romanized%3A%20ta%CA%BFr%C4%ABf%2C%20lit</a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/etymologie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymologie</a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/etymologia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymologia</a>

Nat (she/they)I love learning about <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/language" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#language</a> quirks, especially pertaining to the internet or my other interests, so it should be no surprise that <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/etymologynerd" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymologynerd</a> makes some of my favorite content out there.Did you know your players might be developing "ludolects", fellow <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/gamedev" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gamedev</a> s?<a href="https://youtube.com/shorts/zz4C3CEAuKw?si=CwdLxdytcE4fFYVj" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://youtube.com/shorts/zz4C3CEAuKw?si=CwdLxdytcE4fFYVj</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/videogames" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#videogames</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/accents" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#accents</a>

GH OgawaMaybe <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Trump</a> will ditch his <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/tariffs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#tariffs</a> if he learns that the origin of the word is Arabic? Leveraging his racism 😅<a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Etymology</a>

mytwobits01"Heuristic" and "eureka" both come form the Greek word "heuriskein", meaning "to find, or find out".<a href="https://freeradical.zone/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a>

Alliterative/Endless KnotThe <a href="https://toot.community/tags/ConnectedAtBirth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ConnectedAtBirth</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a> of the week is PENGUIN/ADVISER/TWIT <a href="https://toot.community/tags/wotd" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#wotd</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/penguin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#penguin</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/adviser" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#adviser</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/twit" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#twit</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/tariffs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#tariffs</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/Penguins" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Penguins</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/penguintariff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#penguintariff</a> <a href="https://toot.community/tags/PenguinsAgainstTrump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PenguinsAgainstTrump</a>

Mx. Luna CorbdenOut of curiosity, I went to see when in fact "heed" dropped off in usage, and as I suspected, it was during The Enlightenment, just before the Revolutionary War. It tried to pull up again in the mid-19th century, then the 20th century put the nail in it. Again, probably because of its connections to the concept of obedience. To understand someone meant you would obey them, and after awhile that didn't seem so fun. (I just picture some angry old father screaming at his children to heed him or else.) Our society is FAR less authoritarian than it once was. (I saw a YouTube video on outsider artist Henry Darger last night, and jesus we have it good. I'd like to keep it that way and make things even better.)<a href="https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=heed" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=heed</a><a href="https://defcon.social/tags/epistemology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#epistemology</a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/psychology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#psychology</a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/English" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#English</a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/AbuseCulture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AbuseCulture</a>

Mx. Luna CorbdenEnglish conflates the concepts of "hear" and "understand." Many conflicts get nowhere because we use the common phrasing, "You're not listening to me!" or "You didn't hear me!" when what we really mean is, "You didn't get me, I want you to make sense of what I'm saying."The process of comprehending what someone has said is different than hearing their words. How many times have you said, "You're not listening!" and they were in fact "listening" but not getting it? How many times have you said, "No I HEARD you?" when you did not, in fact, understand?English used to have a snappy word for this: heed. To heed was to both hear AND to understand. And it also meant "obey" which might be why it fell out of favor (which itself reflects an interesting point of cultural values shift). We DO in fact conflate "listen" to obedience, sometimes, especially towards children. But not as much as once was.The fact that all words mean multiple things, and that English has some issues with which things are conflated, can really influence how we think and interact. It's worth trying to unpack that. Then I start thinking towards how we can change English to be better.<a href="https://defcon.social/tags/AbuseCulture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AbuseCulture</a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/English" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#English</a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/etymology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#etymology</a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/psychology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#psychology</a> <a href="https://defcon.social/tags/epistemology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#epistemology</a>

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