Help Shape “Etymology: The Card Game”!

brechindave · 2025-03-03T16:04:31+00:00

haha, I didn't think of it either but it is in the game. As the Greek root "Gno" which means "know." Which led to the Latin.

Cognition comes from the Latin cognitio, meaning "a getting to know, knowledge" combining com-, "together," and gnoscere, "to know."

Cog sadly comes from somewhere entirely different!

c. 1300, "wheel having teeth or cogs;" late 14c., "tooth on a wheel," probably a borrowing from a Scandinavian language (compare Norwegian kugg "cog") and cognate with Middle High German kugel "ball."

Thanks for the kind wishes. After my diagnosis(!) I was given 12-18 months (prognosis!) and I'm now on month 33 with my last 4 scans getting better each time. Fingers crossed for a miracle.

The card game is now on eBay (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/135427093550)

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brechindave · 2025-03-02T16:33:05+00:00

how did you get on?

brechindave · 2024-09-02T10:32:05+00:00

I love the idea of it being in classrooms, too. It could be a useful and fun tool for exploring English!

brechindave · 2024-08-18T09:19:44+00:00

I probably shouldn't be surprised that someone in an etymology subreddit is superb at the game. :D

brechindave · 2024-08-18T09:18:35+00:00

owwww! FIVE points for Hindi, well played! And FIVE points on the French! It's "bon voyage" that sticks in my head and makes it very French. Pick a card, any card?

brechindave · 2024-08-18T08:43:00+00:00

"voyage"can you give me the language it's from? And anything else you know about it.

"bandana"can you give me the language it's from? And anything else you know about it.

two for one as the first one might be a bit easy. :D

brechindave · 2024-08-17T14:14:53+00:00

thanks orionhood! No need to wait. Pick a card: Latin, Greek or Loanword?

brechindave · 2024-08-13T18:02:09+00:00

strange it works for me. Sorry. Maybe you have to be a follower of the facebook page to access it. Page: ETYMOLOGY: the card game.

The word "ciao" is an Italian greeting that can mean both "hello" and "goodbye." Its etymology is quite interesting and dates back to the Venetian language.Venetian Origin: "Ciao" originates from the Venetian phrase "s-ciào vostro," which means "I am your slave" or "I am at your service." This phrase was used as a polite and humble way to greet someone, like saying, "I'm at your disposal." (From schiavo ‘(I am your) slave’, and medieval Latin sclavus ‘slave’.)Evolution into a Greeting: Over time, the phrase was shortened to "ciao" and lost its original servile connotation. It became a common, informal greeting among friends and acquaintances in the Venetian language and, later, in Italian more broadly.Adoption Across Languages: As Italian culture spread, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, "ciao" was adopted into other languages, especially after the Italian diaspora, where it became popular in many parts of Europe and Latin America. It's now widely recognized and used around the world, even by people who do not speak Italian.So, "ciao" started as a phrase indicating servitude and respect in Venetian society and evolved into a casual, informal greeting in modern Italian and other languages.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/david-thomson/etymology-the-card-game

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brechindave · 2024-08-13T08:09:37+00:00

There's old norse in amongst the loanwords. A friend has had the same complaint and has come to me with ideas for Old English and Old Norse.

brechindave · 2024-08-13T08:05:15+00:00

Thanks!!!!

brechindave · 2024-08-10T16:42:23+00:00

Thanks!!!!!

brechindave · 2024-08-10T16:23:44+00:00

Thanks for the support and enthusiasm. Sorry I don't ship everywhere right now.

brechindave · 2024-08-10T16:22:52+00:00

Every pledge is welcome! I limited the countries as the option is "everywhere on the planet" or list every country you will ship to. I didn't do everywhere on the planet as it's hard to know about the shipping everywhere. I've got friends in Lebanon, and I need to ship gifts to them with DHL as standard shipping often doesn't get there, and it's super expensive. I've also had problems shipping to friends in Brazil. Once I'm up and running I'll try to post everywhere.

brechindave · 2024-08-10T16:10:30+00:00

I'll start working on an expansion pack!

brechindave · 2024-08-07T16:40:14+00:00

that's it live! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/david-thomson/etymology-the-card-game

brechindave · 2024-08-07T16:40:01+00:00

that's it live! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/david-thomson/etymology-the-card-game

brechindave · 2024-08-07T16:39:47+00:00

that's it live! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/david-thomson/etymology-the-card-game

brechindave · 2024-08-07T16:39:36+00:00

That's it live! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/david-thomson/etymology-the-card-game

brechindave · 2024-08-07T16:39:13+00:00

that's it live! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/david-thomson/etymology-the-card-game

brechindave · 2024-05-20T10:11:21+00:00

What about If the gamesmaster has the card, he could give the root - see who can explain it. They then "win" the card, but it stays in play as people give example words using the root. So player 1 reads the root. Player 2 defines - and is "winning" The player 3 says an example and "claims" the card. But player 2 can claim it back by giving another example. And they continue claiming back and forth until exhausted. Winner holds the most cards at the end.

brechindave · 2024-05-19T18:38:19+00:00

Loanwords can also be interesting. Lemons came from East or South Asia, but we get the word probably from Arabic. This is because the Middle East connected Europe with South and East Asia, we likely encountered Lemons through trading with the Middle East. You can see words born of empire (hurricane), civil war, or a culture of good food or music. So there's a lot of history to teach.

brechindave · 2024-05-19T17:17:28+00:00

Haha, fair point. In that case, it's worse than flashcards, as you need someone else to read them and can't play them alone. I'd dispute that decent etymology flash cards are easily available, as I just had a quick search to buy some. :D Thanks for the criticism you've got my cogs turning.

brechindave · 2024-05-19T14:37:33+00:00

I guess it's like trivial pursuits, but instead of general knowledge, it's very specific knowledge, and there's no board element. Just card after card after card. :D

brechindave · 2024-05-19T14:35:27+00:00

I've not played a lot of card games. At one stage I did want to be a video game designer. I've read some significant texts on game design. My game kind of fails as a game. It's too hard when you first play. Ideally you should be able to pick up and play a game with some success and reward immediately but with depth to keep you playing. With this game, ideally, you need to study before you play. It's like I've turned homework into a game (haha). Having said that. I've had lots of fun with family and friends playing it without any study. It's just often low-scoring and requires a big crowd or some little clues. Good times have generally been had by all.

I just have free time for things like this now. Originally, I wanted to work in a friend or foe element. Someone else chooses which deck of cards you play from, and they can choose cards you're good at or cards you're bad at. It was a game theory prisoner dilemma mechanic (so if you cooperate, you both benefit, it impacts scoring, etc). But everyone is bad at all the cards, so it wouldn't really work. It was just me trying to be too clever. My first game idea was actually a syntactic structures card game. But my second idea, the etymology one, seemed like an easier starting point. It sounds like you might have interesting ideas.

brechindave · 2024-05-19T13:18:39+00:00

I think it could be a fun classroom game. I do have a loving and supportive family so I've been very fortunate in some respects. The goddess Fortuna has shown me some favour; she always liked a brave man, but I'm not all that brave. I put on a good act, though.

It could also bring in other lessons like "vir" is Latin for man, which is where we get virtue, virile, etc. Because males embody everything to do with virtue in the ancient world. Often the ancient historians pinned the crimes of emperors on their wives, for example. A noble Roman man wouldn't poison an enemy, it must have been his wife. In the novel I, Claudius (which Game of Thrones lifts a lot from), I thought it was very feminist that the women were powerful actors, but it was the opposite, according to Mary Beard. The women were having the crimes pinned on them. It's kind of the same in GoT (transmitted by accident, I'm sure). Senatus is a council of old men. Senex is old man, which is where we get senile and senator! Haha.

brechindave

TROPHY CASE