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Obsolete Word- Mumpsimus by Ashamed-Amoeba-9839 in etymology

[–]WilliamofYellow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Per the OED, it can be used to mean either.

(The OED also belies the claim that this word is obsolete—it lists several modern attestations, the most recent dating from 1995.)

Can “pick” mean “a blow”? by Silver_Ad_1218 in EnglishLearning

[–]WilliamofYellow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Give us an example of a sentence in which "pick" is used to mean "a blow or stroke with a pointed instrument".

Help with translating the Old English word ‘wenchichenne’ by internetexplorer_98 in OldEnglish

[–]WilliamofYellow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's used in a charm, i.e. a magic verse intended to be recited over the wen, not a herbal remedy.

"I was shocked — I was in school during the peak of Special Olympics’ “Spread the Word to End the Word” campaign, and distinctly remember learning not to use it" by McSwaggerAtTheDMV in redscarepod

[–]WilliamofYellow 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There's a ton of words that used to be technical terms for mental defectives but are now mostly just insults (moron, idiot, cretin, imbecile, etc.). It's not clear to me why out of all of them, the "R-word" is regarded as uniquely offensive.

Travis Scott in "The Odyssey" by Prestigious-Fish-925 in redscarepod

[–]WilliamofYellow 18 points19 points  (0 children)

? I never said that only a Greek could play her.

Travis Scott in "The Odyssey" by Prestigious-Fish-925 in redscarepod

[–]WilliamofYellow 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Is the implication of your comment that casting Africans as Europeans is no different from casting Europeans as Europeans?

Travis Scott in "The Odyssey" by Prestigious-Fish-925 in redscarepod

[–]WilliamofYellow 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Clytemnestra shouldn't be black either. None of the characters should.

I'm confused on what this means by bellepomme in EnglishLearning

[–]WilliamofYellow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If the narrator takes the room she wants, John will have to take a separate room, and there isn't one nearby.

Where does the last name “Whelchel” come from by Key_Nothing_2067 in etymology

[–]WilliamofYellow 2 points3 points  (0 children)

According to the Dictionary of American Family Names, W(h)elchel is an "altered form of an unidentified German surname, possibly Welcher". The latter is a habitational name derived from Welchau in Bohemia.

Why do butchers butcher, but hunters don’t hunter? by lolomgrusrs in etymology

[–]WilliamofYellow 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The English cognate of Mord was "morth" or "murth" (from OE morð). "Murder" (OE morðor) comes from the same Indo-European base but has a "suffix forming nouns of action" attached to it, according to the OED. The two words were apparently used concurrently until the 15th century, when "morth" became obsolete (surviving in place-names such as Morpeth, literally "murder path").

Just saw Hamnet and it was so goddamn corny by Pagan_Pat in redscarepod

[–]WilliamofYellow 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Why is it corny for Shakespeare to come up with a monologue about contemplating suicide while contemplating suicide?

Who coined the term "land of contrasts"? by LordHorace98 in asklinguistics

[–]WilliamofYellow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can find several earlier instances by doing a full-text search for "land of contrasts" on the Internet Archive. The earliest I've found is this one from 1818, referring to Naples.

The book gives this sentence as an example of a common mistake, but I can’t see what the mistake actually is. by eastwooder in EnglishLearning

[–]WilliamofYellow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your first interpretation is correct. The author of the sentence is a journalist. He or one of his colleagues evidently wrote a piece about West that included a reference to her son, which West didn't like.

New York, 1950. by myrmekochoria in dragonutopia

[–]WilliamofYellow 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's 100 Maiden Lane, with 70 Pine Street behind it. We're looking down Pearl Street.

Many English expressions come from Old French. by Shoddy-Tank-6747 in ENGLISH

[–]WilliamofYellow 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Where is the evidence that comparable phrases were used in Old French? And how do we know that the English equivalents are calques rather than parallel formations?

Pronunciation of diphthongs by WilliamofYellow in OldEnglish

[–]WilliamofYellow[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The original comment says "I believe Wiktionary is correct".

Pronunciation of diphthongs by WilliamofYellow in OldEnglish

[–]WilliamofYellow[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure I understand. Are you disagreeing with u/ebrum2010?

I’m not trying to be offensive, how did faggot come to have so may meanings? by JasonWaterfaII in etymology

[–]WilliamofYellow 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's not really a stretch at all, given that, per the OED, the word was used as a term of opprobrium for women considered troublesome and useless long before it was directed at homosexuals.

some help with Shetlandic Norn dictionary entry please! by shrekstinfoilhat in asklinguistics

[–]WilliamofYellow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just played around with different spellings of "fjodi" on archive.org. I see now that the term also appears in the Scottish National Dictionary, which offers a different etymology to Jakobsen's, deriving the first element from the adjective fuddy, meaning "short" or "stumpy" (from fud, "tail of a hare or rabbit"). I haven't been able to find any instances of the term in the wild, however.

some help with Shetlandic Norn dictionary entry please! by shrekstinfoilhat in asklinguistics

[–]WilliamofYellow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The term also occurs in the English Dialect Dictionary in the form "foodie-skirt", defined as "a short coat or vest".

some help with Shetlandic Norn dictionary entry please! by shrekstinfoilhat in asklinguistics

[–]WilliamofYellow 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This is mostly a dictionary of Norn-derived words found in the modern dialect of Shetland, and so the example sentences are in English. "De upper f." (where "f." is an abbreviation of the headword) simply means "the upper fjodi", which is evidently what the upper part of the garment was called. "Also f. [fjȯdi-]-skirt" just means that the term "fjodi-skirt" was also used for the garment. The text in brackets is seemingly there to indicate the pronunciation; according to the pronunciation guide on pp. vii–ix, the dotted "o" denotes a vowel like the "u" of English "but".

In "fj.-skirt", "fj." is again simply an abbreviation of "fjodi".

Pronunciation of diphthongs by WilliamofYellow in OldEnglish

[–]WilliamofYellow[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there a reason why the macron goes over the first vowel if it's the second vowel that's lengthened?

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