LL-L "Etymology" 2004.11.14 (05) [E]

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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
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From: Global Moose Translations <globalmoose at t-online.de>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2004.11.14 (02) [E]

Ingmar wrote:
> >>>>> I see now, Reinhard.
> I mixed up the English "silly goose" with the Dutch "domme gans", but the
> two don't seem to have identical meanings.
> In Dutch we use this expression "een domme gans" or "een dom gansje" too,
> lit. a dumb/silly/stupid goose.

A similarly false cognate would be "lame duck" which, in English, is a
politician who cannot be re-elected, and in German ("lahme Ente") is a
slow-witted, boring, passive person.

Sorry, Ron, what made me think of this list was not the word "silly" (that
would have made me think of Monty Python's "Ministry of Silly Walks" first
and foremost), but the fact that you seemed to regard Ingmar and me as "a
gaggle of geese". Oh well - what's good for the goose, is good for the
gander, right, Ingmar?

Although it would be tempting to ask why you would be offended at being
called something that would imply you are female - does that mean you would
regard that as an insult, thereby inferring that "female" means something
inferior? Nah, on second thought, let's not go there! :-P

Ron:
> Couldn't live without a periodic fix of Hyacinth.
Really makes you appreciate your wife, doesn't it??

And the Royal Moose? (sounds like a shaving cream)
"Oh no, she'll SING at me!"

Gabriele Kahn

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From: Tom Maguire <jmaguire at pie.xtec.es>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2004.11.14 (02) [E]

Tom Carty <cartyweb at hotmail.com>

> Indeed Ulster Scots is spoken by more than the scots: many Irish in the
> planter areas of Ulster and north leinster have their dialect heavily
> influenced by Ulster Scots, with words like oxter for elbow, fornint for
> opposite etc., etc.
>
> Tomas O' Carthaigh
> AN TEANGA NUA
> http://www.teanganua.pro.ie
>
Hello Tomas,

Just a wee point : I have always heard "oxter" as meaning armpit.

Regards,

Tom

--
Carpe Diem.
-Visit Nlp in Education  http://www.xtec.es/~jmaguire
-Join Nlp-Education  mailto:nlp-education-subscribe at yahoogroups.com

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

I wrote:

> It's the diminutive of _but_ (<Butt> [bUt], masculine, plural _büt_ <Bütt>
> [bYt]) and apparently is related to Dutch _bot_ 'flounder', 'bud', thus a
> fish.  Usually in its diminutive form, it denotes a little boy, an urchin,
> _een jochie_.  I'm wondering if there is, after all, a connection with
> what
> in Dutch is _bot_ 'blunt', 'stubby'; so your association with _botje_ may
> not be too far off.

Actually, it's believed that English "butt" as in "blunt end of a tool" and,
yes, "buttock"* is derived from Middle Low German, either from Dutch or from
Saxon, and people seem to think that there is a link between it and the
(stumpy?) flat fish "butt," as also in "halibut" (< "holy butt,"
_Hippoglossus vulgaris_, cf. D. _heilbot_, LS _heilbut_ < _heylige but_).

* As in Chaucer's (1386) "Buttokkes brode, and brestes round and hye"  ;-)

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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