Category: Words and phrases

Ietsiepietsie

By Simon

I learnt a cute Dutch word today – ietsiepietsie. It means a little, a little bit, teeny tiny or a teeny tiny bit, and is also written ietsie pietsie, ietsje pietsje or ietsjepietsje [source].

Itsy Bitsy Katydid

You could also translate it as itsy-bitsy, itty-bitty or teensy weensy Do you know any similar expressions in English or other languages.

It is a reduplication* of ietsje (somewhat, a little bit), a diminutive version of iets [its] (something, anything), which comes from the Middle Dutch iet (something, anything, to any degree, a little, somewhat, sometimes, perhaps), a contraction of iewet, from the Old Dutch *iowiht, from the Proto-Germanic *ne (not) plus io (ever) plus *wiht, from *wihtą (thing) [source].

*Reduplication is “a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word (or part of it) or even the whole word is repeated exactly or with a slight change.” They’re not very common in Dutch. Other examples include taaitaai (gingerbread), tamtam (fanfare, grapevine) and bla-bla (blah-blah, talk) [source].

They’re more common in English. Examples include easy-peasy, hoity-toity, hurdy-gurdy, raggle-taggle, tut-tut, chit-chat and knick-knack [source].

Musical Fun

By Simon

The Japanese word 曲 (kyoku) means a composition, piece of music, song, track (on a record), a tune, melody or air, or enjoyment, fun, interest or pleasure. Which is quite appropriate as music is enjoyable and fun for many people. It also often appears in the comments of the videos I watch that feature Japanese bands [source].

Lovebites 2019

The same kanji when pronounced kuse means wrong, improper or indecent, or a long segment of a noh play forming its musical highlight​. In the verb 曲がる (magaru) it means to bend, curve, warp, wind, twist, turn, be crooked and various other things, and as 曲げる (mageru) it means to bend, crook, bow, curve, curl, lean, tilt, yield and various other things.

曲 also appears in words like:

  • 曲線 (kyokusen) = curve
  • 曲がり角 (magarikado) = street corner, bend in the road, turning point, watershed
  • 曲目 (kyokumoku) = name of a piece of music, (musical) number, (musical) program(me), list of songs
  • 曲がりくねる (magrikuneru) = to bend many times, twist and turn, zigzag
  • 曲芸 (kyokugei) = acrobatics
  • 曲がりなりにも (magari nimo) = though imperfect, somehow (or other)
  • 曲面 (kyokumen) = curved surface

曲目 (kyokumoku) sounds really nice to me, and something I struggle with is remembering the names of pieces of music. I can play quite a lot of tunes, but only know the names of some of them. I even forget the names of tunes I have written myself.

Here’s a little tune I wrote the other day called The Tower of Cats / Tŵr y Cathod.

In Chinese the character 曲 has several meanings: when pronounced qū it means bent, bend, crooked or wrong, and can also be a surname. When pronounced qǔ it means tune or song [source].

It appears in such words as:

  • 曲子 (qǔzi) = tune
  • 曲调 [曲调] (qǔdiào) = melody
  • 曲折 (qūzhé) = winding, complicated
  • 曲直 (qūzhí) = right and wrong
  • 曲线 [曲線] (qūxiàn) = curve, curved line, indirect
  • 曲解 (qūjiě) = to distort
  • 曲别针 [曲別針] (qūbiézhēn) = paper clip

Sources: Line Dict CHINESE-ENGLISH, mdbg.com

By the way, the band featured in the photo is Lovebites, a Japanese metal band who I really like.

This is their most recent video:

Gossipy Cancans

By Simon

The cancan is a “high-kicking chorus line dance originating in France”, and also a “a trick [in motocross] where one leg is brought over the seat, so that both legs are on one side.” [source].

cancan

Accorrding to the English version of Wiktionary, it comes from the French cancan [kɑ̃.kɑ̃], which refers to the dance, and also means gossip.

Apparently there was a disbute at the Collège de France in around 1550 about the pronunciation of the Latin word quamquam – some scholars favoured the reconstructed Latin prononuciation of [ˈkʷam.kʷã(m)], while others preferred the French Latin pronunciation of [kɑ̃.kɑ̃]. Since then, cancan has referred to “any kind of scandalous performance”.

Accorrding to the French version of Wiktionary however, cancan (gossip) originally meant a loud noise about something, and comes from quanquan (noise, brilliance for a trifle, a narrative full of slander, an indiscreet report), from the Latin quamquam (although, while), from quam (in what way, how, as much as).

Alternatively, cancan might come from the Arabic كانكان (kan kan), which means futile talk.

The cancan, as in the dance, comes from a children’s name for canard (duck), and is onomatopoeic inspired by the quacking of ducks and evocative of their waddling.

Related words in French include cancaner (to gossip (maliciously), to quack), cancaneuse (a gossip), and cancanier (gossiping, gossip, gossipy).

Incidentally, the word gossip comes from the Middle English godsybbe/godsib (a close friend or relation, a confidant, a godparent), from the Old English godsibb (godparent, sponsor), from god (god) and sibb (relationship, peace) [source].

Dampeners

By Simon

On Tuesday night I was at my usual Welsh folk music session having a nice time, then unfortunately a guy fell over and banged his head – he was a bit unsteady on his feet, and had drunk quite a bit. He was okay and has apparently recovered now, but it put a bit of a dampener on the evening.

A dampener is a device that moistens or dampens something, or a discouraging event or remark. Synonyms include buzzkill, killjoy and spoilsport. Do you have any others?

killjoys

It comes from the Middle English dampen (to stifle, suffocate), from the Proto-Germanic *dampaz (vapour), from *dimbaną (to fog, smoke) [source].

Last night when talking about this incident in French, I learnt the phrase gâcher qch, which means to to a dampener/damper on something. Gâcher on its own means to spoil, ruin, muck up, bungle, waste, squander (chances), temper (plaster) or mix (mortar). It appears in phrases like gâcher le paysage (to be a blot of the landscape) and gâcher (to kill a party [source].

Gâcher comes from the Old French gaschier (to spol, spoil, waste), from guaschier/waschier (to wash, soak), from the Frankish *waskan (to wash, bathe), from the Proto-Germanic *waskaną (to wash), from the Proto-Indo-European *wod- (wet) [source].

Words from the same roots include wash in English, wassen (to wash, clean) in Dutch, guazzàre (to wallow) in Italian, and vaske (to wash, shampoo, launder, shuffle) in Danish [source].

Hooks

By Simon

An interesting French I learnt yesterday was hameçonnage, which means phishing or a phishing scam – that is “The malicious act of keeping a false website or sending a false e-mail with the intent of masquerading as a trustworthy entity in order to acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details.” or “The act of circumventing security with an alias.” [source].

rebar hook

It comes from hameçonner (to attract and seduce by a deceptive appearance, to phish), from hameçon (fishhook), from the Old French ameçon, from the Latin hāmus (hook, barb), possibly from the Proto-Germanic *hamô (clothes, skirt, fishnet, harness, collar) [source].

The word hameçon also appears in the expression mordre à l’hameçon, which means to take the bait or rise to the bait, or literally “to bite the hook” [source].

Another word for a scam, swindle or fraud in French is escroquerie, and a phishing scam is escroquerie par hameçonnage [source].

Escroquerie comes from escroquer (to swindle, cheat, defraud), from the Italian scroccare (to scrounge, sponge, cadge, blag) from scrocco (scrounging, sponging), from the Old High German *scurgo, from scurgen (to knock over, push aside), from or related to the Proto-Germanic *skeran (to cut, shear), from the Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (to cut) [source].

The English word shear comes from the same roots, as does the French word déchirer (to tear, rip up) [source].

Kenchiku

By Simon

A Japanese word I learnt recently is 建築 (kenchiku), which means architecture or construction and just appeals to my ears.

旧済生館本館

Related words include:

  • 建築家 (kenchikuka) = architect
  • 建築学 (kenchikugaku) = architecture
  • 建築物 (kenchikubutsu) = building, structure
  • 建築中 (kenchikuchū) = building, structure
  • 建築業 (kenchikugyō) = building/construction industry
  • 建築業者 (kenchikugyōsha) = builder, constructor

The charcter 建 means to build, and also appears in such words as 建物 (tatemono – building), 建設 (kensetsu – construction, establishment), and 建てる (tateru – to build).

The charcter 築 means to fabricate, build or construct, and also appears in such words as 築く (kizuku – to build, construct, erect, amass), 築山 (tsukiyama – artificial hill), and 築後 (chikutē – landscape gardening).

Source: jisho.org

Over the past week or so there has been some building work going on in my house, so it’s been a bit chaotic. The central heating system has now been replaced and I finally have a warm house, which is very nice. It’s all running on electricity (before I had a gas boiler) and is powered partly by my solar panels. Next I’m having a small bathroom installed downstairs, and the kitchen roof needs replacing.

Are there any words you’ve come across recently that appeal to your ears?

Half a Story

By Simon

A way to say excuse me in Irish is gabh mo leithscéal, which is pronounced [ˌɡɔ mə ˈlʲɪʃceːl̪ˠ] or something like that. If you’re talking to two or more people, you would say gabhaigí mo leithscéal. There are similar phrases in Scottish Gaelic – gabh mo leisgeul, and Manx – gow my leshtal. These mean literally “take my excuse”.

Gabh mo leithscéal (take my half story

The first word in these phrases comes from the Old Irish gaibid [ˈɡavʲiðʲ] (to grasp or receive), from the Proto-Celtic *gabyeti (to grab, seize, take or hold), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- (to grab or take) [source].

Related words in other languages include gafael (to hold, grasp, grip) in Welsh, gavel (capacity, grasp) in Cornish, gable in English, and words for to have in Romance languages, such as avere in Italian and avoir in French [source].

The second word in these phrases means my, and the third one means excuse. The words for excuse come from the Old Irish leithscél / leithsgéal / leithsgéul (excuse), from leth (half, side, direction) and scél (story), so an excuse is a “half story” [source].

A related word in Irish is leithscéalach (fond of excuses, apologetic). There’s a similar word in Scottish Gaelic: leisgeulach (excusing, apologetic) and in Manx: leshtallagh (apologetic, apologist, excuser, extenuating).

Seeding Discord

By Simon

Yesterday I learnt an interesting phrase in French – semer la zizanie, which means to stir up ill-feeling, to mess around/about, to drive a wedge (between) or to wreak/raise havoc [source].

J. Zizanie des marais P8100001 2

The word semer means to sow, spread, scatter, lose or shake off. You can also semer le doute (cast doubts), semer la panique (spread panic) or semer la discorde (sow/seed discord, foster division) [source].

It comes from the Latin sēmināre (to sow), from sēminō (I plant, sow), from sēmen (seed, graft, offspring, cause), from the Proto-Italic *sēmen (seed), from the Proto-Indo-European *séh₁mn̥ (seed), from seh₁- (to sow, plant). English words from the same roots include season, seed, seminar and sow [source].

Zizanie means discord or ill-feeling, and comes from the Latin zīzania (tares, cockle), from zizā̆nium (tares, cockle, darnel, jealousy, discord), from the Ancient Greek ζῐζᾰ́νῐον (zizánion – darnel, ryegrass), from the Aramaic זזניא‎, from the Sumerian 𒍣𒍝𒀭 (zizān – wheat) [source].

Words from the same roots include زِوَان‎ (ziwān – darnel, ryegrass) in Arabic, zizzania (darnel, tare, discord) in Italian, and cizaña (darnel, tare, dissension, enmity) [source].

Tare is a vetch or any of the tufted grasses of genus Lolium [source]. Darnel is a species of ryegrass of the genus Lolium temulentum [source], and cockle is another name for the same plant [source].

Incidentally, the word wreak, which only appears in the phrase to wreak havoc (to cause damage, disruption or destruction), and a few other phrases, means to cause harm, afflict, inflict, harm, injure; to chasten, chastise, punish, smite, and used to mean to inflict or take vengeance on, or to take vengeance for [source].

Eve

By Simon

As today is the day before Christmas, I thought I’d look into the origins of the word eve.

Decorations

Eve means the day or night before, and is usually used for holidays and other significant events, such as Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. It can also mean the period of time when something is just about to happen or to be introduced, such as the eve of a scientific breakthrough, and it used to mean evening or night.

It comes from the Middle English word even (eve, evening), from the Old English ǣfen (evening, eve), from the Proto-Germanic *ēbanþs (evening) [source]. Evening comes from the same Proto-Germanic root, via the Middle English evenyng (evening), and the Old English ǣfnung (evening) [source].

Related words in English including eventide, a poetic / archaic word for evening, and yestereve (yesterday evening).

Related words in other languages include avond (evening, night) in Dutch, Abend (evening, night) in German, aften (evening, night) in Danish and aften (night, evening, eve, dinner, supper) in Norwegian [source].

A Multilingual Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it.

Werifesteria

By Simon

I came across the word werifesteria the other day on TikTok, which means “to wander through a forest in search of mystery”.

Shinrin-yoku (Forest Bathing)

Another definition of this word is to “wonder longingly through the woods in search of mystery or magic” [source].

According to World Wide Words it appeared out of thin air in late 2014, and nobody seems to know who coined it. Rumours circulating on social media that it comes from Old English are apparently untrue [source].

Perhaps someone who was indulging in some 森林浴 (shinrin yoku)* came up with the word werifesteria. In case you’re not familiar with 森林浴, it’s a Japanese term that means forest bathing, forest therapy, or peaceful walk through the woods for health benefits​ [source].

Are there any other interesting forest-related words that you know?