Vodka, hydromel (was Piroguen, Helwa, Easter eggs...)

[Dennis R. Preston]

>The word is actually a diminutive of woda (water)+(-ka) and there is
>some evidence that its origins are Polish not Russian, discussed by
>K. Polanski, but I have forgotten where.

dInIs

>Russian vodka was an important export ware going to England from
>around 1550 onward - the word should be easy to find in sources from
>that time. The word is derived from _voda_, meaning _water_.
>
>Hydromel is the classical term for mead. See e.g.
>http://www.netexplosion.com/wwebmead.htm :
>Mead: Honey wine (honey only and no spices)
>Melomel: Mead made with fruit juice other than apple.
>Hydromel: a weak watered down mead.
>
>_Kvas_ is a kind of very weak and fairly tasteless beer
>
>Jan Ivarsson
>jan.ivarsson at transedit.st

--
Dennis R. Preston
Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Languages
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Michigan State University
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