I just discovered something really cool over the weekend. iTunes is now selling the audiobook edition of "Fry's English Delight", the BBC Radio 4 documentary series on the English language.
For years, Stephen Fry was best known for his work with the comedy team "Fry and Laurie" (yes, that Laurie...Hugh Laurie, who you may also know as Dr. Gregory House.) Fry has a wonderful speaking voice and a good sense of humour; most importantly, the documentary provides some interesting information about why certain things exist in English.
You can find "Fry's English Delight" on iTunes. There's also information about the program on the BBC's Radio 4 website.
Showing posts with label etymology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label etymology. Show all posts
11.02.2010
9.10.2010
CRISIS: What is it, exactly?
crisis: c.1425, from Greek krisis "turning point in a disease" (used as such by Hippocrates and Galen), lit. "judgment," from krinein "to separate, decide, judge," from PIE base *krei- "to sieve, discriminate, distinguish" (cf. Gk. krinesthai "to explain;" O.E. hriddel "sieve". Transferred non-medical sense is 1627.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking that all Greek and Latin words mean the same in English as they do in Spanish!
It's true that the economic troubles we're currently experiencing can be described as a crisis. Dictionary.com defines a crisis as:
1. a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, esp. for better or for worse, is determined; turning point.
2. a condition of instability or danger, as in social, economic, political, or international affairs, leading to a decisive change.
Both of those are good descriptions of what's happening in the economy now!
Recession, however, is a much more accurate word. A recession is defined as "a period of an economic contraction, sometimes limited in scope or duration", and when you think about it, this is a better way of describing what's happening because it is very specific to the economy. People understand that "crisis" means something negative, but it could be anything - it doesn't specifically refer to the economy.
If the economy gets much worse, then we need to use a totally different word: depression ("a period during which business, employment, and stock-market values decline severely or remain at a very low level of activity.")
Sources:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/crisis
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/recession
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/depression
Don't fall into the trap of thinking that all Greek and Latin words mean the same in English as they do in Spanish!
It's true that the economic troubles we're currently experiencing can be described as a crisis. Dictionary.com defines a crisis as:
1. a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, esp. for better or for worse, is determined; turning point.
2. a condition of instability or danger, as in social, economic, political, or international affairs, leading to a decisive change.
Both of those are good descriptions of what's happening in the economy now!
Recession, however, is a much more accurate word. A recession is defined as "a period of an economic contraction, sometimes limited in scope or duration", and when you think about it, this is a better way of describing what's happening because it is very specific to the economy. People understand that "crisis" means something negative, but it could be anything - it doesn't specifically refer to the economy.
If the economy gets much worse, then we need to use a totally different word: depression ("a period during which business, employment, and stock-market values decline severely or remain at a very low level of activity.")
Sources:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/crisis
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/recession
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/depression
8.30.2010
It's all in your mind
Years ago (and I mean many, many years ago), I had a college classmate named Allison who was, shall we say, a little bit radical. She thought that many languages were fundamentally sexist because (she felt) that there weren't many ways for women to be present in grammar, and that that meant that if a language tended to favour masculine forms, the language caused people, in turn, to think in a sexist way.
That idea may appear to be radical, but it's not a new one. As this New York Times article shows, people have been trying to make the connection between language and thought for a very long time (http://tinyurl.com/33adeud.)
It's a good article, maybe a bit long, but works well in describing why that idea (called the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis) isn't always correct.
Enjoy!
That idea may appear to be radical, but it's not a new one. As this New York Times article shows, people have been trying to make the connection between language and thought for a very long time (http://tinyurl.com/33adeud.)
It's a good article, maybe a bit long, but works well in describing why that idea (called the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis) isn't always correct.
Enjoy!
6.12.2010
...and why do Americans call it soccer?
I confess: I had to look this one up.
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary (http://www.etymonline.com/), the word soccer is a shorter form of "association", from the name of the Football Association. Speakers took "assoc", turned it into "soc", and added the informal "-er" suffix (you can also hear this in the way some people will call rubgy "rugger").
Football (which dates back to the early 15th century) is fairly obvious: you have a foot, you have a ball. Games like these date back to the Roman times; I like how the Online Etymology Dictionary points out that "[b]all-kicking games date back to the Roman legions, at least, but the sport seems to have risen to a national obsession in England, c.1630." (Some things never change.)
Hooligan dates back more than one hundred years:
...of unknown origin, first found in British newspaper police-court reports in the summer of 1898, almost certainly from the surname "Houlihan", supposedly from a lively family of that name in London (who figured in music hall songs of the decade). Internationalized 20c. in communist rhetoric as Rusian khuligan, opprobrium [=criticism] for "scofflaws, political dissenters, etc."
For more information on word origins connection with football/soccer/whatever you call it, look here: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=soccer&searchmode=none.
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary (http://www.etymonline.com/), the word soccer is a shorter form of "association", from the name of the Football Association. Speakers took "assoc", turned it into "soc", and added the informal "-er" suffix (you can also hear this in the way some people will call rubgy "rugger").
Football (which dates back to the early 15th century) is fairly obvious: you have a foot, you have a ball. Games like these date back to the Roman times; I like how the Online Etymology Dictionary points out that "[b]all-kicking games date back to the Roman legions, at least, but the sport seems to have risen to a national obsession in England, c.1630." (Some things never change.)
Hooligan dates back more than one hundred years:
...of unknown origin, first found in British newspaper police-court reports in the summer of 1898, almost certainly from the surname "Houlihan", supposedly from a lively family of that name in London (who figured in music hall songs of the decade). Internationalized 20c. in communist rhetoric as Rusian khuligan, opprobrium [=criticism] for "scofflaws, political dissenters, etc."
For more information on word origins connection with football/soccer/whatever you call it, look here: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=soccer&searchmode=none.
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