A Travel and vacations forum. TravelBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » TravelBanter forum » Travel Regions » Australia & New Zealand
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

A-Z of English words with surprising origins



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #11  
Old November 27th, 2008, 04:11 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,uk.politics.misc,rec.travel.usa-canada,rec.travel.australia+nz,rec.sport.rugby.union
Giovanni Drogo
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 811
Default A-Z of English words with surprising origins

On Thu, 27 Nov 2008, DVH wrote:

Regatta, from Venetian


The enquiries I did in april showed that "regata" derives from Latin
"re-captare" i.e. "to catch again" or "to CAPTure again".


Is there a reason you think it's not derived from "rigare"?


Many reasons. One is that a verb "rigare" does not exist as a standalone
intransitive verb, except in the idiomatic expression "rigare diritto".
As a transitive verb, it means "drawing or carving lines or grooves on a
sheet of paper or other material". Another is that the alternance i - e
is not a typical italian - venetian alternance (like e.g. c - g). So
my ear would never associate "regata" as an alteration of "rigare". On
the contrary "regata" may look like the feminine participle past of a
verb "regare" which does not exist at all (the verb for "make a
regat(t)a" is "regatare"). Last but not least because I found the
etimology "re-captare" around, and it looks plausible to me.

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
is a newsreading account used by more persons to
avoid unwanted spam. Any mail returning to this address will be rejected.
Users can disclose their e-mail address in the article if they wish so.
  #12  
Old November 27th, 2008, 04:20 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,uk.politics.misc,rec.travel.usa-canada,rec.travel.australia+nz,rec.sport.rugby.union
Giovanni Drogo
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 811
Default A-Z of English words with surprising origins

On Thu, 27 Nov 2008, Ariadne wrote:

Spelling in English is not so regular. We spell "sonata"


But "sonata" is a perfectly legitimate italian word ! There are many
cases of italian words which alternate "uo" and "o" (open o !), with the
"o" form being preferred in Tuscan or central-italian vernaculars.

Yes, nowadays almost nobody will use the verb "sonare" and everybody
will prefer "suonare" (to sound), with participle "suonato", and the
substantive "suono" (sound). But Tuscans may use it, and the term could
be found in literature until 40 or 50 years ago.

But the musical term "sonata" was "frozen" as such a lot of time ago,
and is the only proper form.

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
is a newsreading account used by more persons to
avoid unwanted spam. Any mail returning to this address will be rejected.
Users can disclose their e-mail address in the article if they wish so.
  #13  
Old November 27th, 2008, 04:20 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,uk.politics.misc,rec.travel.usa-canada,rec.travel.australia+nz,rec.sport.rugby.union
Jochen Kriegerowski[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 122
Default A-Z of English words with surprising origins

schrieb

The sausage dogs my aunt had couldn't tackle a large mouse, let alone
a badger.


Don't underestimate the courage of those "sausages" - which used to
be bigger than most of today's breeds.

But they weren't supposed to tackle badgers, but only to drive them
out of their burrows - hence the short legs!

Jochen
  #14  
Old November 27th, 2008, 04:29 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,uk.politics.misc,rec.travel.usa-canada,rec.travel.australia+nz,rec.sport.rugby.union
Jochen Kriegerowski[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 122
Default A-Z of English words with surprising origins

"Giovanni Drogo" schrieb

Last but not least because I found the
etimology "re-captare" around, and it looks plausible to me.


My German etymological dictionary says it derives from "riga",
venetian origin, 18th century.
We spell it "Regatta" over here too, by the way.

Jochen
  #15  
Old November 27th, 2008, 04:49 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,uk.politics.misc,rec.travel.usa-canada,rec.travel.australia+nz,rec.sport.rugby.union
DVH[_1_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 108
Default A-Z of English words with surprising origins


"Jochen Kriegerowski" wrote in message
...
"Giovanni Drogo" schrieb

Last but not least because I found the etimology "re-captare" around, and
it looks plausible to me.


My German etymological dictionary says it derives from "riga",
venetian origin, 18th century.


Which would come from the Latin "regula" and ultimately from rex?

We spell it "Regatta" over here too, by the way.

Jochen



  #16  
Old November 27th, 2008, 05:41 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,uk.politics.misc,rec.travel.usa-canada,rec.travel.australia+nz,rec.sport.rugby.union
didgerman
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 9
Default A-Z of English words with surprising origins

Miles Vaches wrote:
On 27 Nov, 14:04, "Road_Hog" wrote:
"Miles Vaches" spammed the ...

Snipped a load of spam.

So Bill Tong, which you are because you use the same email address
any particular reason you are spamming this group
under another sock puppet alias?


yes, its called 'culture'....... ;-)


Culture is a word derived from the Greek 'culture', meaning: to have an
itchy arse.
  #17  
Old November 27th, 2008, 05:50 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,uk.politics.misc,rec.travel.usa-canada,rec.travel.australia+nz,rec.sport.rugby.union
Hatunen
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,483
Default A-Z of English words with surprising origins

On Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:32:59 -0000, "Gerald Oliver Swift"
wrote:


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main...bowords126.xml
When I set out to write a study of the history of words, I thought I
had a decent grasp......

• 'The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English' by Henry
Hitchings (John Murray Publishing, £16.99) is available from Telegraph
Bookshop for £14.99 + £1.25 p&p. To order, call 0844 871 1515 or go to
books.telegraph.co.uk


The author of this (sad) piece probably never even thought to look at these
two sites:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...foreign_origin
http://www.krysstal.com/borrow.html


Or to have posted it in alt.usage.english ...

--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *
  #18  
Old November 27th, 2008, 06:19 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,uk.politics.misc,rec.travel.usa-canada,rec.travel.australia+nz,rec.sport.rugby.union
Miles Vaches
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 14
Default A-Z of English words with surprising origins

On 27 Nov, 17:41, didgerman wrote:
Miles Vaches wrote:
On 27 Nov, 14:04, "Road_Hog" wrote:
"Miles Vaches" spammed the ...


Snipped a load of spam.


So Bill Tong, which you are because you use the same email address
any particular reason you are spamming this group
under another sock puppet alias?


yes, its called 'culture'....... ;-)


Culture is a word derived from the Greek 'culture', meaning: to have an
itchy arse.


...... 2 things Road_Hog has learnt today.....
  #19  
Old November 27th, 2008, 06:26 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,uk.politics.misc,rec.travel.usa-canada,rec.travel.australia+nz,rec.sport.rugby.union
Keith Anderson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 704
Default A-Z of English words with surprising origins

On Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:20:58 +0100, "Jochen Kriegerowski"
wrote:

schrieb

The sausage dogs my aunt had couldn't tackle a large mouse, let alone
a badger.


Don't underestimate the courage of those "sausages" - which used to
be bigger than most of today's breeds.

But they weren't supposed to tackle badgers, but only to drive them
out of their burrows - hence the short legs!

Jochen


Reminds me of the two old ladies discussing their dogs.

"I've got two dachshunds", says one of them, "A dog and a bitch."

"Oh!", says the other, "What happens when the bitch is on heat?"

"Simple - I put her upstairs."

"But how does THAT stop the dog getting at the bitch?"

"Even simpler - have you ever seen a dachshund trying to get upstairs
with a hard-on?"

(I'll get me coat :-))




Keith (formerly of Bristol UK)
now moved to Berlin/nach Berlin umgezogen
  #20  
Old November 27th, 2008, 07:51 PM posted to rec.travel.europe,uk.politics.misc,rec.travel.usa-canada,rec.travel.australia+nz,rec.sport.rugby.union
Uncle Dave
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 61
Default A-Z of English words with surprising origins

On Nov 27, 11:24*am, Miles Vaches wrote:

snip ad

You missed one - WTF. As in "WTF has this got to do with rugby?" Oh,
and you failed to include "spam".

UD

 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Rhyming Simple Spanish Words (Just define in english) CoreyWhite Latin America 13 February 19th, 2007 11:21 AM
German English Words dellfalconer Europe 31 October 6th, 2005 03:16 AM
German English Words dellfalconer Travel Marketplace 0 October 3rd, 2005 03:02 PM
French words in English PJ O'Donovan Europe 2 September 8th, 2004 12:44 AM
French words in English Mark Fagan Europe 0 September 7th, 2004 04:24 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 04:31 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 TravelBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.