{"id":4492,"date":"2026-06-20T13:52:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?p=4492"},"modified":"2026-06-20T13:52:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:52:26","slug":"adventures-in-etymology-delays-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?p=4492","title":{"rendered":"Adventures in Etymology &#8211; Delays Expected"},"content":{"rendered":"<div itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/AudioObject\"><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"Adventures in Etymology &amp;#8211; Delays Expected\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2026-06-20T13:52:26+00:00\" \/><meta itemprop=\"encodingFormat\" content=\"audio\/mpeg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT2M21S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"In this Adventure in Etymology we investigate the tardy roots of the word delay.\n\n\n\nA delay [d\u026a\u02c8le\u026a\u032f \/ d\u0259\u02c8le\u026a\u032f] is a period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity, and various other things.\n\nTo dela...\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/delaysexpected.mp3\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"2.5\" \/><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_165\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-4492-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/delaysexpected.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/delaysexpected.mp3\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/delaysexpected.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/delaysexpected.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?powerpress_pinw=4492-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/delaysexpected.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"delaysexpected.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p>In this Adventure in Etymology we investigate the tardy roots of the word <strong>delay<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/oregondot\/50495041437\/in\/photolist-2jW5hAH-2n8Ua8D-2orKWMM-2q5af8S-dXr2C3-oBmtF-2rbqXZh-saFqhB-2s4mB4b-JuKwZL-na4hB-5zFEfh-brPEg7-aN7vcZ-7JLY2-a4DB5k-ddR7m6-EnMPfs-kmNGT-2ktqyb3-2mrwoFY-79Dxfy-YDqCtU-2naBoH5-2hWf2pw-DsohWo-E2XcF4-o5uNv-2hFYQkT-79DxeN-5DeXwG-4FqcGi-2n8ZM66-fsYSvm-6YwNiT-7qjNeU-cJjJXb-7GRAo8-xLo23-7poeC2-qdCRG8-t1h2H-2qiJ881-icdPDf-2mpRzg5-ZuijKu-Hude7K-zbqqoG-2rK29Bv-opQz8j\" title=\"Expect delays\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/50495041437_8d6d71f397_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" alt=\"Expect delays\"\/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>A delay<\/strong> [d\u026a\u02c8le\u026a\u032f \/ d\u0259\u02c8le\u026a\u032f] is a period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity, and various other things.<\/p>\n<p><strong>To delay<\/strong> can mean to put off until later; to defer; to retard; to temporarily stop; to wait; to hesitate, and other things.<\/p>\n<p>It comes from Middle English <em>delaien<\/em> (to delay, postpone, withhold, hinder), from Old French <em>deslai(i)er<\/em> (to delay), probably a conflation of the Old Frankish words <em>*lattjan<\/em> (to delay, hinder) and <em>*laibijan<\/em> (to leave).<\/p>\n<p>The former comes from Proto-Germanic <em>*latjan\u0105<\/em> (to delay, hinder, stall), from PIE <em>*leh\u2081d-<\/em> (to leave, to be tired), and the latter comes from Proto-Germanic <em>*laibijan\u0105<\/em> (to leave), from PIE <em>*leyp-<\/em> (to stick, fat) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/delay#English\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Words from the same Old French roots include <strong>d\u00e9lai<\/strong> (time limit, extension) in French, <strong>tlajja<\/strong> (to loiter, linger, stroll back forth) in Maltese, and <strong>dally<\/strong> (to waste time in trivial activities, or in idleness) and <strong>dalliance<\/strong> (playful flirtation, a wasting of time in idleness or triffles) in English [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/delaier#Old_French\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Other words from the PIE root <em>*leh\u2081d-<\/em> (to leave, etc) include <strong>laten<\/strong> (to leave, let, cause to) in Dutch, <strong>lassen<\/strong> (to allow, permit, let) in German, <strong>laisser<\/strong> (to leave, forget, let) in French, and <strong>late<\/strong>, <strong>let<\/strong>, <strong>lease<\/strong> and <strong>lassitude<\/strong> in English [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European\/leh%E2%82%81d-\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Other words from the PIE root <em>*leyp-<\/em> (to stick, etc) include <strong>leve<\/strong> (to live, to be alive) in Danish, <strong>lepi\u0165<\/strong> (to stick) in Slovak and <strong>leave<\/strong>, <strong>belive<\/strong>, <strong>life<\/strong> and <strong>liver<\/strong> in English [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European\/leyp-\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/uk\/cgi-bin\/webscr?cmd=_flow&amp;SESSION=aLjPfXL-vP_1gQ_U23Iz8_hSWLlhzLHPMFZrt32dIEfG8htoNFLYaPoWkv8&amp;dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8def8934b92a630e40b7fef61ab7e9fe63\">PayPal<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/omniglot\">Patreon<\/a>, or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/donations.htm\">contribute to Omniglot in other ways<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with <a href=\"https:\/\/blubrry.com\/services\/podcast-hosting\/?code=omniglot\">Blubrry Podcast Hosting<\/a>, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code <strong>omniglot<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.japanesepod101.com\/member\/go.php?r=759259&amp;i=b0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/images\/banners\/banner_japanesepod.jpg\" alt=\"The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com\" width=\"630\" height=\"83\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/\">Omniglot Blog<\/a>, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/\">Celtiadur<\/a> blog.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n   crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- Blog horizontal --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n   style=\"display:block\"\n   data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n   data-ad-slot=\"1685480124\"\n   data-ad-format=\"auto\"\n   data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n   (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/AudioObject\"><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"Adventures in Etymology &amp;#8211; Delays Expected\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2026-06-20T13:52:26+00:00\" \/><meta itemprop=\"encodingFormat\" content=\"audio\/mpeg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT2M21S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"In this Adventure in Etymology we investigate the tardy roots of the word delay.\n\n\n\nA delay [d\u026a\u02c8le\u026a\u032f \/ d\u0259\u02c8le\u026a\u032f] is a period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity, and various other things.\n\nTo dela...\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/delaysexpected.mp3\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"2.5\" \/><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_166\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-4492-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/delaysexpected.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/delaysexpected.mp3\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/delaysexpected.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/delaysexpected.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?powerpress_pinw=4492-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/delaysexpected.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"delaysexpected.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p>In this Adventure in Etymology we investigate the tardy roots of the word delay. A delay [d\u026a\u02c8le\u026a\u032f \/ d\u0259\u02c8le\u026a\u032f] is a period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity, and various other things. To delay can mean to put off until later; to defer; to retard; to temporarily stop; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,31,47,20,56,110,23,24,4,444,58,11,109,1,57,59,72],"tags":[449,446,445,90,9,450,447,448,167,15,88,8,103],"class_list":["post-4492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventures-in-etymology","category-danish","category-dutch","category-english","category-etymology","category-frankish-frenkisk","category-french","category-german","category-language","category-maltese-malti","category-middle-english","category-music","category-old-french-franceis","category-podcast","category-proto-germanic","category-proto-indo-european","category-slovak-slovencina","tag-dalliance","tag-dally","tag-delay","tag-etymology","tag-language","tag-lassitude","tag-leave","tag-let","tag-linguistics","tag-music","tag-omniglot","tag-podcast","tag-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4492"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4493,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4492\/revisions\/4493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}