LL-L "Etymology" 2003.06.15 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
L O W L A N D S - L * 15.JUN.2003 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
http://www.lowlands-l.net * sassisch at yahoo.com
Rules & Guidelines: http://www.lowlands-l.net/rules.htm
Posting Address: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org
Server Manual: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html
Archives: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html
=======================================================================
You have received this because you have been subscribed upon request.
To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l" as message
text from the same account to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or
sign off at http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
=======================================================================
A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
=======================================================================

From: Gary Taylor <gary_taylor_98 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Language Varieties

Hi

Hump to me can have both meanings of carry, plus the
American meaning depending on context. 'To hump
something around' would imply carrying something heavy
for a period of time, whereas 'to hump someone'
well... .

I would only use it in the phrase with 'around' to
mean to carry, not that I'd ever use it in the other
sense - I'm far too polite and British for that ;)

'Bugger' on the other hand has for me the 'Biblical'
sense and the sense of a nasty person. My gran would
often use this and 'sod' quite unaware of any other
meanings other than a bad person. It made us laugh.

Gary

----------

From: Gavin.Falconer at gmx.net
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2003.06.14 (02) [E]

I once heard that the word "bugger" meaning "sodomite" was derived from
the
word "Bulgar" because of the tolerance which the Gnostic Christianity
popular
in that part of Europe at the time accorded to homosexuality.  Does
anyone
know if that's true?

--
All the best,

Gavin

Gavin Falconer

Belfast: 02890 657935
Dublin: 00353 (0)1 831 9089
Work: 00353 (0)1 618 3386
Mobile: 0779 173 0627
Fax:  001 954 301 7991

"Wovon man nicht reden kann, darüber muss man
schweigen."

----------

From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Gavin:

> "Wovon man nicht reden kann, darüber muss man
> schweigen."

I'm tempted but feel a couple of words are in order before people jump
to conclusions.  I feel that stories such as this -- about Bulgars or
any other ethnicity -- must be taken with great, big grains of sand.

> I once heard that the word "bugger" meaning "sodomite" was derived from the
> word "Bulgar" because of the tolerance which the Gnostic Christianity popular
> in that part of Europe at the time accorded to homosexuality.  Does anyone
> know if that's true?

Stories I have heard about this say that it referred to pre- or
extramarital choices, irrespective of sexual preference, "prevalent" in
(or perhaps just attributed to) the Balkans.  Others connect it with the
old ruin-and-ravage stories about the bogeymen from the east, no doubt
fertilized by anti-Islamic and Islamophobic sentiments, given that
_Bolghar_ is the name of a Turkic group that once occupied the now
Slavonic- and Turkic-speaking region of Bulgaria.  Let's not forget that
people traditionally like to generalize in such ways about other
people.  In the early 20th century it was Greeks with whom the same sort
of thing was associated in North America.

According to the _Oxford Dictionary_, "bugger" reached English via
Middle Dutch, which got it from French _bougre_ < Latin _Bulgarus_.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

================================END===================================
* Please submit postings to lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org.
* Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
* Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
* Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
  to be sent to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or at
  http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
======================================================================