Author: Simon

I am a linguist, web developer and musician. I live in Bangor in Wales and run Omniglot - the online encyclopedia of writing systems and languages, as well as making the Radio Omniglot Podcast.

Nesting Niches

By Simon

What connects the word niche with nests? Let’s find out.

Niches

A niche include:

  • A cavity, hollow, or recess, generally within the thickness of a wall, for a statue, bust, or other erect ornament.
  • A function within an ecological system to which an organism is especially suited.
  • Any position of opportunity for which one is well-suited, such as a particular market in business.

There are several ways to pronounce it, including [niːʃ], which rhymes with leash, [nɪʃ], which rhymes with fish, and [nɪtʃ], which rhymes with pitch. Which one do you prefer?

It comes from French niche [niʃ] (niche, kennel), from Middle French niche, from Old French niche, from nicher (to make a nest), from Latin *nīdicāre (to nest), from nīdus (nest), Proto-Italic *nizdos (nest), from Proto-Indo-European *nisdós (nest), from *ni (down) & *sed- (sit) – literally “where [the bird] sits down” [source].

Words from the same PIE roots include neth (sprout, bud) in Albanian, նստել [nəsˈtel] (to sit, sink, fit, shrink) in Armenian, ligzda (nest) in Latvian, gniazdo (nest, socket) in Polish, नीड़ (nīṛ – nest) in Hindi, nead (nest, bed, lair, home, den) in Irish, and nido (nest, home, nursery school) in Italian [source].

The English word nest comes from the same PIE roots, via Middle English nest (nest), Old English nest (nest), Proto-West Germanic *nest (nest), and Proto-Germanic *nestą (nest, provisions, food and supplies) [source].

The English word nidus (an aggregate of neurons; a nest of insects or small animals) also comes from the same roots, via Latin nīdus (nest), as do nidation (the implantation of the early embryo in the uterus), nidificate (to make or build a nest), nidolody (the study of nests) and nidifugous (that leaves the nest shortly after hatching) [source].

The archaic English words nid(e) (a nest of pheasants) and nye (a brood or flock of pheasants), also share the same roots. They were probably borrowed from Middle French nid (nest), from Latin nīdus (nest) [source].

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Yielding Payment

By Simon

What links the word yield with payments, tax and gold? Let’s find out.

Yield sign

Meanings of yield include:

  • To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render.
  • To give up; to surrender or capitulate.
  • A product.
  • The quantity of something produced.

And it used to mean payment, money or tribute.

The verb comes from Middle English yẹ̄lden (to relinquish, give up, surrender, to pay, to fullfil an obligation), from Old English ġieldan (to pay, to reward, to worship), from Proto-West Germanic *geldan (to pay for), from Proto-Germanic *geldaną (to pay, to have/give value), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeldʰ- (to pay, to repay).

The noun comes from the same PIE root, via Middle English yẹ̄ld (tax, agricultural yield, reward, recompense), Old English ġield (payment, tax, tribute, cost), Proto-West Germanic *geld (payment), and Proto-Germanic *geldą (reward, gift, money) [source].

Words from the same roots include guild in English, geld (money) and gelden (to apply, count, be considered) in Dutch, Geld (money) and gelten (to be valid, count, be worth) in German, gjald (fee, payment) and gjalda (to pay) in Icelandic, gæld (debt, debts) and gælde (to hold good, be valid) in Danish, gille (feast, guild) in Swedish, and geall (pledge, pawn, token, bet, asset, prize) in Irish [source].

Dreidels & Gelt - Hanukkah 2022

The English word gelt means money, tribute, tax, or chocolate coins usually eaten on Hanukkah (a.k.a. Hanukkah gelt). It originated in thieves’ cant and Polari in the UK, and was later adopted by Jews and used in general slang. It comes from the same roots as yield, etc, via Middle High German gelt (money) and Yiddish געלט (gelt – money) [source].

The English word geld, which historically meant a payment, particularly a medieval form of land tax, also comes from the same roots [source]. It is found in Danegeld, a tax raised originally to pay tribute or protection money to the Viking raiders in the 10th and 11th centuries and later continued as a land tax [source].

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Facting Facts

By Simon

This morning I spotted an interesting case of fact being used as a verb in a comment on a TikTok post, and thought I’d blog about it.

Factual Inc

I can’t find the post in question again, but the comment went something like “Your facts are not facting”. Which probably means that the facts are not true, or the commenter doesn’t believe them.

I found another example of the verbification of fact in this post on Instagram, which includes the comment When the facts are not facting.

Here’s another example of facting used as a verb: “He was facting the news article for the evening broadcast.”

Facting can also be used as a noun meaning “The act of stating or presenting factual information”. For example, “She impressed everyone with her facting skills during the presentation.”

As an adjective, facting means “Pertaining to the existence of verifiable information or circumstances”. For example, “It is important to base decisions on facting evidence rather than assumptions.” [source].

According to Fast Slang:

“Facting is a term that has recently emerged in the online world, and it refers to the act of spreading false information or fake news with the intention of misleading people. The practice of facting is often used by individuals or groups who have an agenda to push or a narrative to promote, and they do so by creating and sharing content that appears to be factual but is actually completely fabricated.”

The word fact is usually used as a noun meaning something actual as opposed to invented; something which is real; or an objective consensus on a fundamental reality that has been agreed upon by a substantial number of experts, and so on.

It comes from Old French fact, from Latin factum (fact, deed, act, work, explot, etc), from factus (done, made), from faciō (to do, make, produce), from Proto-Italic *fakjō (to make) from Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁k-yé-ti (make), from *dʰeh₁- (to do, put, place) [source].

Words from the same PIE roots include affair, affect, artificial, credible, deed, defect, divide, face, factor, faction, feast, perfect, verb, verify and many more in English [source].

The act of using a non-verb, particularly a noun, as a verb, is called verbing, verbalizing / verbalising, verbifying or verbification, and is quite common in English. Do other languages do this as much? [source].

Incidentally, a minor fact or item of trivia is a factlet [source], and a factette is a small snippet of true information, or a minor fact [source].

Factoid is generally used to refer to a minor fact, like factlet and factette, but can also mean “an inaccurate statement or statistic believed to be true because of broad repetition, especially if cited in the media.”

It was coined by American writer Norman Mailer and appeared in his 1973 book, Marilyn: A Biography, in which he defines factoids as “facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper, creations which are not so much lies as a product to manipulate emotion in the Silent Majority” [source].

This post has been thoroughly facted and fact checked, and is entirely factual, factful and factic, to the best of my knowledge. It contains no misfacts, nonfacts, pseudofacts or unfacts, and that’s a fact, as a matter of fact.

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Knobbly Monsters

By Simon

When does a alligator become a knobbly monster? Let’s find out.

Alligator

Some journalists tend to use alternative ways to refer to the subjects of their articles when mentioning them for the second (or third) time, rather than using the same word twice.

Apparently in an article about alligators, journalist Paul Hudson, referred to them as reptiles then the knobbly monsters. Such alternative descriptions became known as knobbly monsters as a result. They are also known as gratuitous synonyms, pov or popular orange vegetable (a.k.a. the carrot), and American writer and journalist Charles W. Morton (1899–1967) referred to this practice as the ‘the elongated yellow fruit school of writing’.

In 1926, H. W. Fowler (1858-1933), an English schoolmaster, lexicographer and commentator on English usage, wrote in his book A Dictionary of Modern English Usage:

“Elegant variation. It is the second-rate writers, those intent rather on expressing themselves prettily than on conveying their meaning clearly, & still more those whose notions of style are based on a few misleading rules of thumb that are chiefly open to the allurements of elegant variation” [source]

At that time, elegant was a disparaging adjective for pretentious or precious refinement.

Other examples of knobbly monsters / elegant variation include:

  • The watery playground (paddling pool)
  • The whirring powertool (chainsaw)
  • Large balls of the freezing ice (hail)
  • The pepperpot-shaped trundling nasties (Daleks)
  • The tentacled monster (Giant squid)
  • The chunky chin-blankets (beards)
  • The red-jacketed festive gift-bringer (Santa)
  • The fatty breakfast treat (sausage)
  • Elongated yellow fruit (banana)
  • The numbered spheroids (billiard balls)
  • Hen-fruit safari (Easter egg hunt)
  • Succulent bivalves (oysters)
  • Rubber-tired mastodon of the highway (truck)
  • Succulent bivales (oysters)
  • The toothsome cocoa-based delight (chocolate)

Here’s an actual example of a knobbly monster in the wild [source]:

An article about an actual knobbly monster

Elegant variations for everyday terms were commonly-used in Old English and Old Norse poetry, and were known as kennings. Examples include báru fákr (wave’s horse) for ship, hron rade (whale’s road) for sea and grennir gunn-más (feeder of raven) for warrior [source]

Sources: https://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/fun_stuff/2004/09/07/monsters.shtml
https://mistakeswritersmake.com/knobbly-monsters/
https://pjhoury.com/knobbly-monsters/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Morton_(editor)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elegant_variation

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Inflammability

By Simon

Something that is not divisible is indivisible and something that is not accurate is inaccurate, yet something that is inflammable can be burnt. Why is that? Let’s find out.

Flammable Inflamable Inflammable

The word inflammable [ɪnˈflæməbəl] means:

  • Capable of burning
  • Easily set on fire
  • Easily excited; set off by the slightest excuse; easily enraged or inflamed.

It can also mean the opposite: Incapable of burning; not easily set on fire. It comes from Middle French inflammable, from Medieval Latin īnflammābilis, from Latin īnflammāre (to set on fire), from in- (in, on) & flamma (flame) [source].

A related word, (to) inflame means to set on fire, to kindle, to cause to burn, flame or glow, to put in a state of inflammation, or to produce morbid heat, congestion, or swelling, and something that is inflammable can be inflamed [source].

Other related words include inflammation in English , infiammare (to set fire to, to inflame, stir up or flush sth) in Italian, inflamar (to inflame, catch fire) in Portuguese, and inflamar (to inflame, ignite) in Spanish [source].

The word flammable is a back-formation from inflammable and means capable of burning, easily set of fire, or extremely contentious. The prefix in-/im- is often used like un- and non- to negate the meaning of words, such as unaware and non-abrasive. It doesn’t have this meaning in inflammable, but to avoid confusion, the word flammable was coined [source].

Other words that can be used to indicate that something is not easily set on fire include non-flammable, noninflammable, unflammable, uninflammable, incombustible, non-combustible, not flammable and fireproof [source].

In French and Spanish, something that can be burnt is inflammable, while something that cannot be burnt is ininflammable, and there’s a similar word in Italian: ininfiammabile – a nice pile up of prefixes! [source]

More on inflammable v flammable:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/flammable-or-inflammable
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combustibility_and_flammability

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