LL-L "Etymology" 2005.03.31 (02) [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: heather rendall <HeatherRendall at compuserve.com>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2005.03.30 (09) [A/E]

Message text written by INTERNET:lowlands-l at LOWLANDS-L.NET

Mark Dreyer writes: re conk / conkers

On this very subject we should get a Briton who attended school before or
not long after WWII.
Get him to regale us with that great game 'conkers'.

Well, I'm the  wrong sex and a decade too late, but I recall 'conk' being
used mostly in the sense

to conk out = to fail / break down- especially of a car      After a few
minutes the engine conked out.

I cannot remember it being used  to refer to people -

 However  'your conk' = your (large) nose.  OED suggests the latter derives
from 'conch' but has nothing to say about the verb. Neither does Partridge.
It was in the same vein as " Dot you on your boko! " = Hit you on the head.
 Rude little boys would call out after a grownup with a large nose. "What a
conk!"

as for 'conkers' - the World Championships are still played every year - I
believe in two places in the UK, both vying for recognition as THE World
Championships!
Originally spelt 'conquerors' and instead of horse chesnuts /conkers, snail
shells were used. See 'Precious Bane' by Mary Webb, where there is frequent
mention of the game with snail shells.

Heather

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From: Elsie Zinsser <ezinsser at icon.co.za>
Subject: "Etymology" 2005.03.30 (09) [A/E]

Hi all,

Jonny, the German 'geil' is a faux ami for Afrikaans - pronounced [x at il]
and has the meaning 'lush', in terms of grazing and maize/wheat fields.

Regards,
Elsie Zinsser

> *G?l*    HG: w?ste Tanzerei   E: very wild dancing
I've made some thoughts about it and I came to the good old word (E:)
"gai[ety]", (G:) "geil" (in these days it just shifted from the meaning of
'lecherous' to 'hot', 'terrific').

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

Elsie (above):

> Jonny, the German 'geil' is a faux ami for Afrikaans - pronounced [x at il]
> and has the meaning 'lush', in terms of grazing and maize/wheat fields.

I vaguely remember learning that they are in fact _vrais amis_.  German
_geil_ and Low Saxon _geyl_ ([gE.Il] ~ [ga.Il] ~ [xE.Il] ~ [xa.Il], as
opposed to _geel_ [ge:l] ~ [gE:l] ~ [xe:l] ~ [xE:l] 'yellow') can mean and
used to only mean 'fertile', 'ready for planting', extended to 'ready to get
pregnant', 'in heat' and then to human sexual desire (and I'll spare you all
those words).  It is now rarely used in the earlier sense, obviously because
the newer meaning has made the words "bad."  The shift to 'great',
'fantastic' in German is of very recent date, deriving from teenagers'
slang, much like 'groovy', 'swell', 'cool', 'bully', 'neat', 'bad' or
'sweet' in English, _fet_ ("fat") in Norwegian, _häftigt_ ("forceful(ly)")
in Swedish, etc.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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