Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Do you know, or can you guess, the language?
Tag: language
Pouring Rain
Yesterday it rained quite a lot here in the UK, and rather heavily at times. This got me thinking about the saying it never rains but it pours.
This expression means unfortunate events occur in quantity or misfortunes never come singly. A related saying is bad things come in threes. Fortunately this wasn’t the case for me yesterday, apart from a few minor delays and disruptions on the trains I took [source].
It never rains but it pours can apparently also refer to good things happening all at once or to excess, though I suspect the negative meaning is more common. It first appears in It Cannot Rain But It pours, an article by Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope in Prose Miscellanies, and in It cannot Rain but it Pours OR, London ſrowʼd [strowed] with Rarities, a book by John Arbuthnot published in 1726 [source].
There are similar expressions in other languages, including some that refer to rain:
- 屋漏偏逢连夜雨 [屋漏偏逢連夜雨] (wū lòu piān féng liányè yǔ) = (if your) house leaks, it tends to rain all night long (Mandarin Chinese)
- Nuair a thig cith tig balc = when the rain comes, a downpour comes (Irish)
- Piove sul bagnato = it rains on the wet (Italian)
- 降れば土砂降り (fureba doshaburi) = if it rains, it will be a downpour (Japanese)
- Cuando llueve, diluvia = when it rains, it pours (Spanish)
- När det regnar så öser det ner = when it rains, it pours down (Swedish)
In some languages such sayings mean something like ‘misfortunes do not come alone’ or ‘a misfortune seldom comes alone’:
- En ulykke kommer sjældent alene = a misfortune seldom comes alone (Danish)
- Un malheur ne vient jamais seul = a misfortune never comes alone (French)
- Bėda viena nevaikšto = trouble does not come alone (Lithuanian)
- Nieszczęścia chodzą parami = misfortunes walk in pairs (Polish)
- Helynt ni ddaw ei hunan = trouble does not come by itself (Welsh)
- Hakuna msiba usiokuwa na mwenziwe = there is no tragedy without a companion (Swahili)
Here a few other examples that don’t mention rain or misfortune:
- Ar ein skriðan er lopin er onnur væntandi = when one landslide is over, another is waiting (Faroese)
- Sjaldan er ein báran stök = rarely is a single bear alone (Icelandic)
- Nuair a thig air duine, thig air uile = when it befalls one, it befalls all (Scottish Gaelic)
Language Quiz
Bons mots
What connects bons mots with mottos and muttering? Let’s find out.
A bon mot [bɒn məʊ / bɑn moʊ] in English means a clever saying, a phrase or witticism or a witty riposte in dialogue. It comes from French bon mot [bɔ̃ mo], which means the same thing, or literally “good word”. You can also find bon mot in Dutch, Indonesian and other languages [source].
The word mot [mo] in French means a word, note, (short) message or the answer to an enigma. It comes from Middle French mot (word), from Old French mot (word), from Late Latin muttum (a mutter, grunt), from muttīre (to mutter, murmur, talk quietly) from muttiō (to mutter, murmer), which is of onomatopoeic origin and signifies “make a mu-noise” [source].
Other French expressions featuring mot include:
- demi-mot = a hint (“half-word”)
- fin mot = the real story, the (whole) truth (“final word”)
- gros mot = dirty word, swear word (“coarse / rough word”)
- grand mot = a strong word, strong term (“big-word”)
- demi-mot = a hint (“half-word”)
- mot d’esprit = a witticism, bon mot (“word of spirit / wit”)
- dernier mot = last word
Other words from the same roots possibly include mot (word) in Catalan, motto and mutter in English, mote (nickname, motto) in Spanish, Motto (motto, slogan) in German and motto (philosophy, motto, watchword, byword) in Polish [source].
By the way, the plural of bon mot in French is bons mots, but in English it can be bon mots or bons mots. What about in other languages?
Language Quiz
Silly Madness
The word mishegoss came up in a book I’m reading at the moment, and I had no idea what it meant, so I thought I’d find out.
Mishegoss [ˌmɪʃəˈɡɒs / ˈmɪʃəɡɒs] is apparently a slang term meaning madness or silliness. It comes from the Yiddish word משוגעת (meshugas), which means craziness, madness, nonsense, crazy talk, senseless activity, irrationality, craze, fad or quirk. That word comes from Yiddish משוגע (meshuge – crazy), from Hebrew משוגע (m’shugá – mad, crazy, insane), from שיגע (shigéa – to drive crazy) [source].
Words from the same roots include mișegos (petty) in Romanian, мишигас [mʲɪʂɨˈɡas] (maddness, insanity) in Russian, мешигос (mešyhós – maddness) in Ukrainian, mesüge (crazy) in Hungarian, and meshugge (crazy, mad, senseless, insane) in English [source].
I think I’ve heard or seen the word meshugge before, though I wasn’t sure what it meant at the time. Apparently it’s been used in English since at least 1880 [source]. Is it mainly used in American English?
Some related words in English include:
- mashugana = nonsense, silliness, craziness, garbage; a person who is silly or crazy
- meshugaas = nonsense, rubbish, craziness, a chaotic state of affairs, a mess
- meshuggener = crazy, insane; a madman, a crazy person, a nutter
Do you use any of these words?
Language Quiz
Pages, Pagans & Peasants
Are the words page, pagan, peasant and pheasant related? Let’s find out.
Page [peɪdʒ], as in ‘one of the many pieces of paper bound together within a book or similar document’ (other meanings are available) comes from Middle French page, from Latin pāgina (a written page, leaf, sheet), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- (to fasten, fix), which is possibly related to the idea of papyrus sheets fastened to each other, or from fastening / imprinting letters [source].
Words from the same Latin root include página (page) in Spanish, página (page, website) in Portuguese, pagina (page) in Italian, page (page, web page, page boy) in French, and pagină (page) in Romanian [source].
Pagan [ˈpeɪɡən] (Relating to, characteristic of religions that differ from main world religions; savage, immoral, uncivilized, wild.) comes from Middle English pagan, from Latin pāgānus (rural, rustic, unlearned), from pāgus (district, region, countryside, countryfolk) from Proto-Italic *pāgos, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- (to fasten, fix) – perhaps related to fixing boundaries [source].
Words from the same Latin roots include paúl (moor, heath) and peño (foundling) in Spanish, pegno (pledge, security, token) in Italian, pau (stick, wood) in Portuguese, pale, impale, pole, peasant, travail and travel in English, and pow (country, land, region) in Cornish [source].
So page, pagan and peasant are related. What about pheasant?
Pheasant [ˈfɛzənt] (A bird of family Phasianidae) comes from Middle English fesa(u)nt (pheasant), from Old French faisan (pheasant), from Latin phāsiānus, (pheasant), from Ancient Greek φασιανός (phasianós – pheasant), from Φᾶσῐς (Phâsĭs), a river in Greece from where, it was supposed, pheasants spread to the west [source].
So pheasant is not related to page, pagan or peasant.
Incidentally, in Old English, one word for pheasant was worhana, which was also written uuorhana or morhana. It comes from the Proto-Germanic words *wurzô (grouse) and *hanō (cock, rooster), and is possibly related to the modern English word moorhen [source].
Language Quiz
Omphaloskepsis
Do you engage in omphaloskepsis?
Omphaloskepsis [ˌɒmfələˈskɛpsɪs] is a very useful word that means the comtemplation of or meditation upon one’s navel, or in other words, navel-gazing. Another definition is ‘Ratiocination* to the point of self-absorption’. It comes from Ancient Greek ὀμφαλός (omphalós – navel) & σκέψις (sképsis – perception, reflection) [source].
*Ratiocination = Reasoning, conscious deliberate inference. Thought or reasoning that is exact, valid and rational. A proposition arrived at by such thought [source].
Related words include:
- omphaloskeptic = One who contemplates or meditates upon one’s navel; one who engages in omphaloscopy. Likely to, prone to, or engaged in contemplating or meditating upon one’s navel.
- omphalomancy = Divination by means of a child’s navel, to learn how many children the mother may have.
- omphalopsychic = Related to or characterised by navel-gazing (omphaloskepsis). Someone who engages in omphaloskepsis, a navel-gazer.
The Modern Greek word ομφαλοσκοπία (omfaloskopía – the action or effect of omphaloscopy. A method of divination involving the examination of the umbilical cord) is also related [source].
The Ancient Greek word ὀμφαλός (omphalós – navel, umbilical cord, anything navel-shaped, centre) comes from Proto-Indo-European *h₃m̥bʰ-l̥- (navel), from *h₃nebʰ- (hub, navel) [source].
Words from the same roots include umbilicus (navel, middle, centre), navel and nave in English, ombelico (navel, umbilicus) in Italian, nombril (navel, belly button, middle) in French, umbigo (navel) in Portuguese, buric (navel, belly button) in Romanian, naaf (hub, nave) in Dutch, Nabel (navel, belly button, centre, middle) in German, and imleacán (navel, belly button) in Irish [source].
By the way, I found the word omphaloskepsis while putting together a Celtiadur post about words for navel, centre and middle in Celtic languages. It appears in the definition of the Welsh word bogailsyllu [bɔɡai̯lˈsəɬɨ / boːɡai̯lˈsəɬi], which means to comtemplate one’s navel, or to engage in navel-gazing or omphaloskepsis [source]. If you are omphaloskeptic, then in Welsh you are bogailsyllol (given to navel-gazing) [source].
The bogail [ˈbɔɡai̯l / ˈboːɡai̯l] in bogailsyllu means navel, umbilicus, belly button or afterbirth, a boss on a shield, a knob a stud, a nave, the hub of a well, middle or centre [source]. It should not be confused with bogail, which means vowel.
Words that mean navel-gazing in other languages include: navlepilleri in Danish, navelstaren in Dutch, nombrillisme in French, Nabelschau in German, and navlebeskuer in Norwegian [source].