Dirks, Saxons and Messers

By Simon

Dirk / sgian-dubh in sock

I discovered today that dolch is the German equivalent of dirk, the dagger that is worn in the sock in Scottish Highland dress (see photo). The dirk is known as a sgian dubh (black knife or secret knife) in Scottish Gaelic, and the word dirk, which first appeared in English as dork in the 17th century, possibly comes from the German word dolch (dagger) or dolk, which is found in Dutch, Danish and Swedish [source].

Another German word for knife is Messer, which comes from the Old High German mezzeres/mezzirahs/mezzisahs (knife), from the Proto-Germanic *matisahsą (knife), from *matiz (food) and *sahsą (knife, dagger). Messer is cognate with the Old Saxon metisahs/mezas (knife), the West Frisian mês, the Dutch mes (knife), and the Old English word meteseax (knife). [source].

The Old English word seax (knife, short sword, dagger), which appears in meteseax, shares the same root – the Proto-Indo-European *sek- (to cut) – with the Middle English sax (knife); the Danish and Swedish word sax (a pair of scissors), the Icelandic sax (a short heavy sword), and the Latin word secō (cut), as well as the English words Saxon and saw [source].

The English word mess (in the military sense of a dining hall or people who eat together) comes from a different root – from the Latin mittere (to put, place) via the Old French mets (food) [source].

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
veinard; chançard lucky devil/bugger cenau lwcus chañs
avoir de la veine;
avoir de la chance		 to be lucky bod yn lwcus
chanceux lucky lwcus eürus
l’échapée belle lucky escape dianc lwcus
le jour de chance lucky day dydd lwcus
le coup de vein lucky break ergyd lwcus taol -chañs
la cuve tank; vat; bunker byncer; daeardy; cerwyn pip
la cellule (prison/animal/plant) cell cell kellig
l’aquarelle (f) watercolour dyfrlliw dourliv
boiteux lame cloff kamm
la note chit darn papur notenn
délicat; nauséeux; barbouillé queasy (stomach) sâl; swp sâl; (stumog) wan da sevel ar galon; klañv
mal à l’aise queasy (uneasy) anesmwyth; anniddig; aflonydd diaes
le cercle vicieux vicious circle cylch cythreulig; cylch anfad kelc’h bac’h
la cote (betting) odds ods; ots

Lucky and inspiring veins

By Simon

I discovered yesterday that one way to say that someone is lucky in French is to say that they avoir de la veine (‘have of the vein’). I’m not sure why veins are associated with luck. Does anybody know.

Veine also means seam and inspiration.

Other expressions featuring veine and related words include:

– veiné = veined
– dans la même veine = in the same vein
– veine dramatique = dramatic inspiration
– veine poétique = poetic inspiration
– veine porte = portal vein
– veine poétique = poetic inspiration
– veine de cocu / veine de pendu = great deal of luck
– veine d’air = current of air
– veinard {n} = lucky beggar/dog
– veinard {adj} = fluky; jammy
– Sacré veinard ! = You jammy bugger!

Are there equivalents of veinard in other languages?

Fantoosh puppets

By Simon

I came across the interesting Scots word fantoosh [fan’tuʃ], which is defined by the Online Scots Dictionary as “flashy, ultra-fashionable”, whicle the Dictionary of the Scots Language gives a more detailed definition: “1. Over-dressed, over-ornamented; flashy, showy; ultra-fashionable; and 2. An over-dressed person”.

Related words include fantoosherie (fuss, pretentiousness, swank) and fantooshed (flashily dressed).

This word was apparently coined during the First World War and was influenced by the English dialect word fanty-sheeny (a marionette, showy, fanciful), which comes from the Italian fantoccino (puppet), or from the French fantoche (puppet), or maybe fantoosh comes directly from the French.

According to the Caledonian Mercury, fantoosh is more often used for women than, and is also used for other things, such as clothes, hats, wedding cakes, and it usually carries with it hints of criticism or disapproval.

Are there similar words in other languages?

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
la cabine de plage beach hut cwt/caban glan môr logell aod (?)
le petit nom d’amitié; diminutif pet name enw anwes bihanaat
le terme d’affection term of endearment gair anwes
les paroles tendres endearments geiriau tyner
le sol; la terre soil pridd douar
le banc (d’église) (church) pew côr; sedd; sêt plas

The apple of one’s eye(ball)

By Simon

The other day I came across the Dutch word oog [oːx], which means ‘spot; hole; period (of time); eye’ – I was looking for the equivalent of eye when I found it. Words like this with double o just appeal to me for some reason and I have to keep reminding myself that they the oo is not pronounced /uː/, as you might expect in English.

Other words in Dutch with double o include:

– ook = too, also, likewise, which always reminds me of how the librarian speaks in Terry Practhett’s Discworld stories (oook, eeek!)
– ooftboom = fruit tree
– ooi = ewe
– oom = uncle
– oor = handle; ear
– oord = place; spot
– oost = east

Eye-related words and expressions include:

– ogen = to look
– oogappel = eyeball (‘eye apple’)
– oogarts = ophtalmologist; oculist (‘eye doctor’)
– oog in oog = face to face (‘eye in eye’)
– in het oog krijgen = to perceive, to descry (‘to get in the eye’)
– in het oog springen = to catch the eye, to stand out (‘to spring/jump in the eye’)
– in het oog vallend = striking (‘falling in the eye’)
– met het oog op = considering (‘with the eye up/on’)
– uit het oog verliezen = to lose out of sight (‘to lose out of the eye’)

Source: bab.la Dictionary

Suns, moons and sputniks

By Simon

The Sun / Солнце

Earlier today I was thinking about how I might learn more Russian, and realised that I need to get to grips with the grammar – the verb conjugations, noun declensions and so on. Trying to memorise verb tables and noun declensions and other grammatical gubbins doesn’t appeal to me, so I thought about other ways I might approach this. I thought that one reason why I haven’t learnt these things very well so far, even though I’m halfway through the Russian course, is because I haven’t made a conscious effort to do so, and haven’t practised using them nearly enough. I think I need lots more examples of how they’re used then my course supplies, and need lots of practise using them.

I thought that one possible approach would be to choose a word or topic, then try and make sense of the Wikipedia page about it, with help from Google translate, which not only translates the text into English, but also has transliteration and text-to-speech functions, so I can listen and read the text. So today’s word is the sun, which in Russian is Солнце [‘solntse]. I can only understand some of the words on the Russian page about the sun on Wikipedia, but one that stood out for me was спутники [‘sputniki], which means satellites or moons and is familiar because it’s similar to the name of the the first artificial satellite, Спутник-1 (Sputnik-1), which was launched in 1957. I knew this name, but didn’t know what it meant, until now.

The word sputnik also means ‘fellow traveller’ or ‘travelling companion’ and was short for спутник Земли (sputnik zemlyi – ‘traveling companion of the Earth’). It comes from the Russian с (with, together) and пут (path, way), from the Old Church Slavonic poti, from the Proto-Indo-European root *pent- (to tread/go; path, road), according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. *pent- is also the root of the English word find and the Latin pōns/pontis (bridge).

I had no idea I’d find all that out when I started writing this post. I haven’t learned much Russian, but I have learned other things.