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<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">L O W L A N D S - L - 26 July 2007 - Volume 04</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">=========================================================================</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">From: </span><span id="_user_didimasure@hotmail.com" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 28); font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Diederik Masure</span><span style="font-weight: normal; font-family: arial,sans-serif;" class="lg">
<<a href="mailto:didimasure@hotmail.com">didimasure@hotmail.com</a>></span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2007.07.27 (01) [E]
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
Vortsik (of Hortsik) zegt men in 't Nederlands tegen een paard, denk ik:)</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">----------
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">From: </span><span id="_user_luc.hellinckx@gmail.com" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 28); font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
Luc Hellinckx</span><span style="font-weight: normal; font-family: arial,sans-serif;" class="lg"> <<a href="mailto:luc.hellinckx@gmail.com">luc.hellinckx@gmail.com</a>></span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Subject: LL-L "Etymology"</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Beste Theo,
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">You wrote:</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
> Well, all Dutchmen know that in Belgium the f-word is</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">> called a velo, as we often in public are honoured with</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">> a very loud "gij velo-zot". (you, bicycle-fool").</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
Well, let me first tell you that I'm an avid cyclist myself (and that's</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">an understatement!).</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">However, I have never been greeted that way here in Belgium. Yet :-D .</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
So I'm afraid that either you were unlucky to meet the wrong kind of</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">people, or reasons other than bicycles may lie beneath this "insult". At
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">the same time, you should take the word "zot" lightly I think: It</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
doesn't mean that you are foolish to ride a bicycle, but rather that you</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">are "mad"ly in love with bikes. We also have the words "jongens-zot" and
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"meiskens-zot" for example. They denote a teenager who is all the time</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">keen on getting new boy/girlfriends; this doesn't mean that such a</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">person is considered crazy.
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Little detail, a true dialect speaker would have said "gij-se velo-zot".</span>
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">I have no idea where this interjection -se comes from.</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Kind greetings...and: keep on rolling!</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
Luc Hellinckx</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">PS: In some countries, cyclists are greeted by stones that are thrown at
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">their heads. Mind you, not with the intention to hit you, but rather to</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
show off how well the boy can aim. The closer to your head, the more</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">skilled he is :-D . Been told, this comes in handy when you have to herd
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">a flock of sheep. Dogs are worse...and then enemy number one, is the</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
wind of course: you can never win if he is against you.</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">----------</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>></span><span style="font-weight: normal; font-family: arial,sans-serif;" class="lg">
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
Subject: Etymology</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Luc:</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><div style="margin-left: 40px; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">We also have the words "jongens-zot" and</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">
"meiskens-zot" for example. They denote a teenager who is all the time</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">
keen on getting new boy/girlfriends; this doesn't mean that such a</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">
person is considered crazy.</span><br></div><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">That would be "boy-crazy (person)" and "girl-crazy (person)" in English, I guess.
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">I further guess that </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
zot</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> is related to English "sot" (a foolish person) as well as "besotted" (smitten, infatuated), and a few Low Saxon have </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
Sot</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> in the sense of 'fool' also. And there's the English verb "to sot" (to make a fool [of someone]). Apparently, these come from Old French </span>
<span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">sot</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> (fem. </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">sote</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
) which is on unknown origin.</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Regards,</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Reinhard/Ron</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br>
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