[Lexicog] A folk-etymology

[Chaz and Helga Mortensen]

Yes, Rudy, I agree with the student, although I used to think the 
'para-' meant "for" as well. It follows the pattern of compound word 
formation in Spanish.

-Chaz

On Jun 2, 2006, at 2:11 AM, rtroike at email.arizona.edu wrote:

>
> Someone a few days ago (pardon, I've forgotten who) mentioned the 
> Spanish
> word "paracaidas" ("parachute"), and etymologized the "para" as the
> preposition meaning "for" ("caida" is "fall"), citing "paraguas" 
> ("umbrella")
> as a parallel ("for water").
>
> I had always folk-etymologized the "para" part the same way myself, 
> and just
> happened to learn from a student recently that it is actually the verb
> "parar" ("to stop, prevent, hinder"). Checking the online OED for 
> "parachute",
> I found that the "para" part here is from the same source, and the 
> "chute" is
> cognate with the Spanish "caida".
>
>       Live and learn,
>
>       Rudy Troike
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
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>



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