![\"Strangely](\"http:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/images\/blog\/rare.gif\")
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An interesting Dutch word I learnt recently is raar<\/strong> [ra\u02d0r], which looks and sounds a bit like the English word rare<\/strong>, and is related to it, but actually means wierd, strange, funny, odd or unusual.<\/p>\n Here are some examples of how it’s used (from Reverso<\/a>):<\/p>\n Raar<\/strong> comes from the Middle Dutch raer<\/em> (rare, unusual), from the Latin rarus<\/em> (scattered, seldom, few, rare, uncommon, thin, loose), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *h\u2081reh\u2081-<\/em> (to separate) [source<\/a>].<\/p>\n From the same root we get words in quite a few other languages, including:<\/p>\n Another Dutch word for strange is vreemd<\/strong> [vre\u02d0mt] (strange, weird odd, foreign) [source<\/a>].<\/p>\n The Dutch word for rare<\/strong> is zeldzaam<\/strong> [\u02c8z\u025blt.sa\u02d0m], which also means scarce or uncommon. This comes from the Proto-Germanic *seldasiuniz<\/em> (rarely seen), from *selda-<\/em> (rare) and *siuniz<\/em> (sight) [source<\/a>].<\/p>\n The German word seltsam<\/strong> (strange, weird, odd, funny, curious) comes from the same root [source<\/a>], as does the rare English word seldsome<\/strong> (rare, uncommon) [source<\/a>].<\/p>\n The English word seldom<\/strong> (infrequently, rarely), comes from the Proto-Germanic *seldan\u0113<\/em> (seldom; rarely), from *seldanaz<\/em> (rare) [source<\/a>].<\/p>\n Here’s an audio version of this post<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
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