Better Safe than Sorry

13 November 202513 November 2025 By Simon

In the past week or so I’ve had a number of vaccinations to prepare for my trip to China, and have more to come. As they say, better safe than sorry, but what do they say in other languages?

The phrase better safe than sorry means it is preferable to be cautious in one’s choices and actions than to act recklessly and suffer afterwards.

Phrases with similar meanings in English include:

err on the side of caution
measure twice, cut once
play it safe
prevention is better than cure
an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

Equivalent phrases in other languages include:

Azerbaijani – htiyat igidin yaraşığıdır
(“prudence is the adornment of a brave man”)
Bulgarian – който сам се пази и Бог го пази (koĭto sam se pazi i Bog go pazi) – (“He who protects himself and God protects him”)
Chinese (Mandarin) – 小心驶得万年船 [小心駛得萬年船]
(xiǎoxīn shǐ dé wànnián chuán) – (“If you are careful, you can steer your ship safely for a myriad of years”)
French – mieux vaut prévenir que guérir
(“prevention is better than cure”)
German – Vorsicht ist besser als Nachsicht
(“caution is better than clemency”)
Greek – κάλλιο γαϊδουρόδενε παρά γαϊδουρογύρευε (kállio gaïdouródene pará gaïdourogýreve) – (“Better to tie a donkey than to ride a donkey.”)
Irish – is fearr glas ná amhras
(“better a lock than a doubt”)
Japanese – 転ばぬ先の杖 (korobanu saki no tsue) – (“a walking stick before stumbling”)
Korean – 돌다리도 두들겨 보고 건너라 (doldalido dudeulgyeo bogo geonneola) – (“even if you cross a stone bridge, test it first.”)
Polish – żeby kózka nie skakała, toby nóżki nie złamała
(“if the goat had not been jumping, it would not have broken its leg”)
Welsh – gwell diogel nac edifar
(“better safe than sorry”)

Source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/better_safe_than_sorry

How about in other languages?

Once in a Blue Moon

6 November 20256 November 2025 By Simon

If something doesn’t happen very often, you might say that it happens once in a blue moon English. What about in other languages?

The phrase once in a blue moon first appeared in first around 1821 and refers to something that happens very rarely, very infrequently or almost never. An alternative version is apparently once in a purple moon [source].

A blue moon is a second full moon during a calendar month, which happens once every 32 months. A blue moon can also refer to a full moon that appears to be blue and bigger than usual [source].

In (Mandarin) Chinese, the equivalent is 千载难逢 [千載難逢] (qiānzǎinánféng), which means “an opportunity difficult to come by even in a thousand years”. This expression comes from folk tales, in which such rare opportunities might lead to success or life-changing events [source].

In Czech, the equivalent is jednou za uherský rok , which means ‘once in a Hungarian year’. Apparently this idiom dates from the Turkish wars, when Czech soldiers were hired in Hungary for a certain period of time, which was constantly extended [source]. The Slovak equivalent, raz za uhorský rok (“once a Hungarian year”), probably comes from the same roots.

In Polish, they say raz na ruski rok (“once in a Ruthenian year”), which refers to the fact that the Gregorian calendar used by East Slavs has longer months [source]. Alternatively, they say od wielkiego dzwonu (“from the big bell”), which refers to The Sigismund Bell, the largest of the five bells in the Sigismund Tower of Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, which is used only on special occasions [source].

In French, you might say tous les trente-six du mois (“every 36th of the month”) or une fois toutes les lunes (“once every moon”) [source].

In German, you could say alle Jubeljahre (“every jubilee year”), which refers to biblical jubliees that come round every 50 years [source].

In Russian, they say раз в сто лет (“once every hundred years”) [source].

In Spanish, they say cada muerte de obispo (“every death of a bishop”), or de Pascuas a Ramos (“from Easter (Day) til Palm Sunday”) – Palm Sunday comes before Easter Day [source].

In Welsh, one equivalent is unwaith yn y pedwar amser (“once in the four seasons”) and another is unwaith yn y pedwar gwynt (“once in the four winds”) [source].

Are there interesting similar idioms in other languages?

Burgling Burg(h)ers

31 October 2025 By Simon

Are the words (ham)burger, burgher and burglar related? Let’s find out.

Burger [ˈbɜː(ɹ)ɡə(ɹ)] is a rebracketing of the word hamburger, which is:

A hot sandwich consisting of a patty of cooked ground beef or a meat substitute, in a sliced bun, usually also containing salad vegetables, condiments, or both.
The patty used in such a sandwich.

Hamburger is an abbreviation of Hamburger sandwich / steak, which comes from Hamburg steak, a patty of ground beef [source].

The idea of the Hamburg steak was brought to America by German immigrants in the 19th century, and is based on similar German dishes such as the Frikadelle, which have existed since the 17th century. It first appeared on menus in restaurants in New York in 1873. By the the 1930s, Hamburg steaks were being served as parts of sandwiches, and became known as (ham)burgers [source].

The name Hamburg comes from Old High German Hamme (bend, angle) and burg (castle, city), from Proto-West-Germanic *burg (fortification, (fortified) city), from Proto-Germanic *burgz (fortification, stronghold, (fortified) city), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (to rise up, to ascend, be elevated, to be up high) [source].

A burgher [ˈbɜː(ɹ)ɡə(ɹ)] is

A citizen of a borough or town, especially one belonging to the middle class.
- A member of the medieval mercantile class.
- A citizen of a medieval city.
A prosperous member of the community

It comes from Middle English burgher (a freeman of a borough, a burgess), likely merged with and reinforced by Middle Dutch burgher, from Middle High German burger, from Old High German burgāri (inhabitant of a fortress), from burg (fortress, citadel), from Proto-West-Germanic *burg (fortification, (fortified) city), etc. [source].

A burglar [ˈbɜːɡlə(ɹ) / ˈbɝɡlɚ] is

A person who breaks in to premises with the intent of committing theft.

It comes from Medieval Latin burglātor (a freeman of a borough, a burgess), from burgō (to commit burglary), from Latin Latin burgus (fortified town), probably from Frankish *burg (fortress), from Proto-Germanic *burgz (fortification, stronghold, (fortified) city), etc. It was possibly influence by the Latin word latro (thief) and/or the Old French word burgeor (burglar), which comes from Latin [source].

So, burger and burgher are related, and burglar is probably related to them.

Other words that share the same roots include: barrow, borough, burrow, comfort, force and fort in English, bourgeois in French, Burg (castle) in German, burcht (citadel, castle, borough, burrow) in Dutch, bwrw (to cast, throw, hit, precipiate) and brenin (king, monarch, sovereign) in Welsh, forte (fort(ress), strength, talent, strong, stressed) in Italian, fuerte (strong, loud, hard) in Spanish [source].

Sylvan Forests

23 October 202523 October 2025 By Simon

When is a forest not a forest?

In modern English, the word forest [ˈfɒɹɪst / ˈfɔɹəst] means:

A dense uncultivated tract of trees and undergrowth, larger than woods.
Any dense collection or amount – e.g. a forest of criticism

Historically it referred to ‘defined area of land set aside in England as royal hunting ground or for other privileged use’, and didn’t necessarily contain trees.

It comes from Middle English forest (forest, wood, a preserve for hunting exclusive to royalty), from Old French forest (royal hunting ground, forest), from Early Medieval Latin forestis (a large area reserved for the use of the King or nobility, often a forest and often for hunting or fishing, forest), from Proto-West-Germanic *furhisti (forest), from *furhiþi (forest, woodland) and *hursti (thicket, wood, grove, nest) [source].

*furhiþi (forest) comes from *furhu (fir, pine), from Proto-Germanic *furhō (fir, pine, forest [of fir or pine trees]), from Proto-Indo-European *pérkus (oak), from *perkʷ- (oak) [source].

Words from the same roots include pērkons (thunder) in Latvian, perkūnas (sound of thunder, god of thunder) in Lithuanian, perth (bush, hedge) in Welsh, quercia (oak) in Italian, forêt (forest) in French, vorst (copse, grove, woodland) in Dutch, fjör (vitality, energy, fun, life) in Icelandic, and cork, fir and farm in English [source].

*hursti (thicket, wood, grove, nest) comes from Proto-Germanic *hurstiz, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷr̥s-ti-s, from *kʷres- [source].

Words from the same roots include hirst (a barren, unproductive piece of ground, usually a hillock, knoll or ridge) in Scots, horst (an elevated land overgrown with shrub) in Dutch, Horst (the nest of a bird of prey, eyrie, bush, thicket, small forest) in German, and hurst (wood, grove – found mainly in place names such as Sissinghurst) in English [source].

The Irish word crann (tree, mast), the Welsh word pren (timber, wood, tree), and related words in other Celtic languages also come from the same roots, via Proto-Celtic *kʷresnom (tree, wood) [source].

In Middle English, the word wode was used to refer to a living tree, a group of trees, a grove, a copse, a wood, a forest, wood, etc. As a verb, it meant to hunt, to take to the woods, or to hide oneself in the woods, and a wodeward was a forester or forest warden.

Wode comes from Old English wudu / ᚹᚢᛞᚢ (wood, forest, woods, tree), from Proto-Germanic *widuz (wood, tree, forest), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁widʰ-u-s [source].

Words from the same roots include wood in English, viður (trees or brambles, forest, wood, timber) in Icelandic, viita (a thicket of young deciduous trees) in Finnish, gwedhen (tree) in Cornish, gwezenn (tree) in Breton, and fiodh (wood, timber) in Scottish Gaelic [source].

Another forest-related word in English is sylvan, which means pertaining to the forest or woodlands, residing in a forest or wood, wooded, or covered in forest.

Related words include silviculture (forestry – the care and development of forests in order to obtain a product or provide a benefit), silvology (the scientific study of forests), and names such as Syliva, Transylvania (“across the forest”), Spotsylvania and Pennsylvania (“woodland of William Penn”).

It comes from Medieval Latin sylvanus, from Latin silvanus, from silva (forest), from Proto-Indo-European *s(w)el- (beam, board, frame, threshold) [source]. Words from the same roots include selva (forest, wood, mass, multitude) in Italian, selva (jungle, woods, forest) in Portuguese, and silva (bramble, blackberry bush) in Galician [source].

String Phones

16 October 202516 October 2025 By Simon

In many languages, words for telephone are some variation of telephone, but in some, such as Swahili, the word for phone is completely different – simu. Let’s find out where it comes from and what other words are related to it.

The Swahili word simu means telephone, telephone message, telegraph or telegram. Some related words include:

simu ya mkono(ni) / simu za rununu = mobile phone
simu maizi = smartphone
kibanda cha simu = telephone booth / box
kitabu cha simu = telephone book
piga simu = to make a call, to phone

It comes from Omani Arabic سيم (sīm – telegram), from Persian سیم (sim – wire, string, cord; silver, wealth, money [poetic]), from Middle Persian (ʾ)sym /⁠ (a)sēm (silver), from Old Persian 𐎿𐎡𐎹𐎶𐎶 (siyamam⁠ – silver), from Ancient Greek ἄσημον (ásēmon – silverware), from ἄσημος (ásēmos – unmarked, unintelligible, indistinct, silver) from ἄσημος, from σῆμα (sêma – mark, sign, token), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰyéh₂mn̥, from *dʰeyh₂- (to perceive, to see) [source].

Words from the same PIE roots include semaphore, semantic in English, semáforo (traffic light, semaphore) in Spanish, σημασία (simasía – meaning, sense, significance) in Greek, sim (string, wire, lead) in Azerbaijani, אסימון (asimón – token) in Hebrew, and сым (sym – wire) in Kazakh [source].

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell patented a device he called the telephone, which he described as an “apparatus for transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically”. This was the first use of the word telephone to refer to the telephone we know today. Before then, it had been used to refer to other similar devices [source].

The English word telephone was borrowed from French téléphone (telephone), which comes from Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle – afar) and φωνή (phōnḗ – voice, sound) [source].

Other languages that do not use some version of the word telephone include:

Armenian: հեռախոս (heṙaxos) – from եռա- (heṙa – far) and խոսել (xosel – to speak)
Breton: pellgomz – from pell (far) and komz (to speak, talk)
Chinese: 电话 [電話] (diànhuà) – from 电 [電] (diàn – lightning, electric power, energy, electricity) and 话 [話] (huà – speech, talk, words) – borrowed from Japanese 電話 (denwa – telephone, phone call)
Finnish: puhelin – from puhella (to chatter)
Icelandic: sími – from síma (cord, rope)

Incidentally, the similarity between the Icelandic word sími and the Swahili word simu is entirely coincidental, and they are not related.

Source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/telephone#Translations

Gluten Glue

8 October 20258 October 2025 By Simon

Did you know that the words glue and gluten are related to each other, and to the word clay?

Glue [ɡluː] is:

A hard gelatin made by boiling bones and hides, used in solution as an adhesive; or any sticky adhesive substance.
Anything that binds two things or people together.
A viscid secretion on the surface of certain plants.

It comes from Middle English glew [ɡliu̯] (glue, birdlime, tar, resin), from Old French glu (glue, birdlime), from Late Latin glūs, from Latin glūten (glue), from Proto-Italic *gloiten, from Proto-Indo-European *glóh₁ytn̥, from *gleyH- (to smear, to stick, glue, putty) [source].

Gluten [ˈɡluːtən / ˈɡluːtn̩] is:

The major protein in cereal grains, especially wheat; responsible for the elasticity in dough and the structure in baked bread.

It comes from Middle French gluten, from Latin glūten (glue), etc. [source].

Clay [kleɪ] is:

A mineral substance made up of small crystals of silica and alumina, that is ductile when moist; the material of pre-fired ceramics.

It comes from Middle English cley, from Old English clǣġ (clay), from Proto-West Germanic *klaij (clay), from Proto-Germanic *klajjaz (clay), from Proto-Indo-European *gloy-(y)ó-s, from *gleyH- (to smear, to stick, glue, putty) [source].

So they all come from the same PIE root. Other words from that root include glynu (to stick, adhere, settle) in Welsh, klína (to smear) in Icelandic, glina (clay, loam) in Polish, liiv (sand) in Estonian, klei (clay) in Dutch [source].

Shearing Scissors

3 October 20253 October 2025 By Simon

Why does the word scissors have a silent c in it, and is it related to the word shears? Let’s find out.

Scissors [ˈsɪzəz / ˈsɪzɚz] are:

A tool used for cutting thin material, consisting of two crossing blades attached at a pivot point in such a way that the blades slide across each other when the handles are closed. [other meanings are available]

It comes from Middle English sisours (scissors, shears, [candle] snuffer), from Old French cusoirs (a cutting tool), from Late Latin cīsōria, from cīsōrium (a cutting tool), from Latin -cīsus or caesus (cut, hewn, felled, stuck, beaten), from *caedō (to cut, hew, fell, strike, beat), from Proto-Italic *kaidō (to cut, hew, fell), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd- (to cut, hew) [source].

The c was added to scissors during the 16th century due to the influence of the Medieval Latin word scissor (tailor, carver) and the Latin word scindō (to cut, tear, read, separate), which both come from Proto-Indo-European *skeyd- (to divide, split) [source].

Words from the same PIE root include cement, to excise, incision, precise and chisel in English, qeth (to cut) in Albanian, césped (lawn, grass, turf) in Spanish, précis (specific, explicit, sharp) in French [source].

In Old English, the word for scissors or shears was sċēar [ʃæ͜ɑːr], which comes from Proto-West Germanic *skāri, from Proto-Germanic *skēriz (cutting, cuttable), from *skeraną (to shear), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (to cut off, sever, separate, divide) [source].

Words from the same roots include shear(s), shred, share, scourge, sharp, scrotum, cortex and carnage in English, scheren (to shear) in German, skörd (harvest) in Swedish, ysgar (separation, split, divorce) in Welsh, cena (dinner) in Italian and Spanish, and harr (to weed, prune) in Albanian [source].

So, scissors and shears are not related.

Another word with a silent / unnecessary c is schist [ʃɪst], which refers to any of a variety of coarse-grained crystalline metamorphic rocks with a foliated structure that allows easy division into slabs or slates.

It comes from French schiste [ʃist] (shale, schist), from Latin lapis schistos (“stone that is easy to split”), from Ancient Greek σχῐστός [skʰis.tós] (skhĭstós, cloven, divided, divisible), from σχῐ́ζω [skʰíz.dɔː] (skhĭ́zō, to split, cleave, divide), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skeyd- (to divide, split) [source].

Words from the same PIE root include schism (a split or separation within a group or organization, typically caused by discord) and schizophrenia in English, scindere (to split up, divide, cleave) in Italian, and scheef (crooked, weird) in Dutch [source].

Select Choices

25 September 2025 By Simon

The Swahili lessons I did today were about politics, and one of the words I learnt was uchaguzi, which means election or selection. I was able to guess it’s meaning from the context, and because the -chagu appears in words related to choosing.

Uchaguzi comes from chagua (to choose, pick, pick out, select). Related words include:

chaguo = choice, selection, the selected
kuchagua = to choose, elect, deform, distort
kuchaguliwa = to be chosen
mchaguzi = fastidious person, choosy person

Sources: https://swahili-dictionary.com/swahili-english/chagua_chagua
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chagua#Swahili

Another word that I’ve noticed appearing in various forms is (ku)sikia, which means to hear, obey, pay attention, feel or sense. Related words include:

sikio = ear
(ku)sikiliza = to listen (to), to hear (a court case)
sikika = listening
msikilizaji = a listener
usikivu = hearing

Sources: https://swahili-dictionary.com/swahili-english/sikia_sikia
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sikia#Swahili

I’ve been learning Swahili for a few months now, and am beginning to be able to guess the meanings of some words based on other words I know, or to at least recognise that they might be related. I feel like I’m making good progress, but there is a lot more to learn.

Good Intentions

19 September 2025 By Simon

One of the things that came up in conversation last night was the expression the road to hell is paved with good intentions. This got me wondering about where it comes from and whether there are similar phrases in other languages.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions means that well-intended acts can potentially lead to disasters. Phrases with a similar meaning is hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works and the streets of hell are paved with promises [source].

The origins of this phrase are not known, but there have been sayings with a similar meaning going back a long way. For example, in the Aeneid (book 6, lines 126-129), Virgil wrote:

“facilis descensus Averno;
noctes atque dies patet atri ianua Ditis;
sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras,
hoc opus, hic labor est” [source].
“The gates of hell are open night and day;
Smooth the descent, and easy is the way:
But to return, and view the cheerful skies,
In this the task and mighty labor lies” [source].

In the Bible (Ecclesiasticus 21:10) we have:

“The way of sinners is made plain with stones, but at the end thereof is the pit of hell.”

In around 1604, Bernard Clairvaux is claimed to have written, though probably didn’t:

L’enfer est plein de bonnes volontés ou désirs
“Hell is full of good meanings and wills”

In 1670 in A Collection of English Proverbs collected by John Ray we have:

“Hell is full of good meanings and wishes”

In 1741 John Wesley wrote in his sermon The Almost Christian:

“‘Hell is paved’, saith one, ‘with good intentions.'”

In 1791 in James Boswell’s biography of Samuel Johnson, Boswell quotes Johnson as saying to an acquaintance:

“Sir, hell is paved with good intentions.”

In 1811 in an English translation of a book by Johann Jacob Rambach we find:

“Der Weg zur Höllen sey mit lauter gutem Vorsatz gepflastert.”
“The road to hell is paved with good resolutions”

Related phrases in other languages include:

Catalan: l’infern està ple de bones intencions
(Hell is full of good intentions.)
French: l’enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions
(Hell is paved with good intentions)
Mandarin Chinese: 好心没好报 [好心沒好報] (hǎoxīn méi hǎobào)
(Good intentions don’t go unrewarded)
Spanish: el infierno está empedrado de buenas intenciones
(Hell is paved with good intentions)

How about in other languages?

Sources and more information about these expressions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_road_to_hell_is_paved_with_good_intentions
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/the-road-to-hell-is-paved-with-good-intentions.html
https://idiomorigins.org/origin/road-to-hell-is-paved-with-good-intentions

Nesting Niches

11 September 202512 September 2025 By Simon

What connects the word niche with nests? Let’s find out.

A niche include:

A cavity, hollow, or recess, generally within the thickness of a wall, for a statue, bust, or other erect ornament.
A function within an ecological system to which an organism is especially suited.
Any position of opportunity for which one is well-suited, such as a particular market in business.

There are several ways to pronounce it, including [niːʃ], which rhymes with leash, [nɪʃ], which rhymes with fish, and [nɪtʃ], which rhymes with pitch. Which one do you prefer?

It comes from French niche [niʃ] (niche, kennel), from Middle French niche, from Old French niche, from nicher (to make a nest), from Latin *nīdicāre (to nest), from nīdus (nest), Proto-Italic *nizdos (nest), from Proto-Indo-European *nisdós (nest), from *ni (down) & *sed- (sit) – literally “where [the bird] sits down” [source].

Words from the same PIE roots include neth (sprout, bud) in Albanian, նստել [nəsˈtel] (to sit, sink, fit, shrink) in Armenian, ligzda (nest) in Latvian, gniazdo (nest, socket) in Polish, नीड़ (nīṛ – nest) in Hindi, nead (nest, bed, lair, home, den) in Irish, and nido (nest, home, nursery school) in Italian [source].

The English word nest comes from the same PIE roots, via Middle English nest (nest), Old English nest (nest), Proto-West Germanic *nest (nest), and Proto-Germanic *nestą (nest, provisions, food and supplies) [source].

The English word nidus (an aggregate of neurons; a nest of insects or small animals) also comes from the same roots, via Latin nīdus (nest), as do nidation (the implantation of the early embryo in the uterus), nidificate (to make or build a nest), nidolody (the study of nests) and nidifugous (that leaves the nest shortly after hatching) [source].

The archaic English words nid(e) (a nest of pheasants) and nye (a brood or flock of pheasants), also share the same roots. They were probably borrowed from Middle French nid (nest), from Latin nīdus (nest) [source].

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Category: English