Wonderful as always. I had to pause in the middle to look up amend. Mend (from an illness) always felt like Germanic to me but Amend is clearly Latin. E(x)mendare means to take out the faults, which fits both reweaving a fabric and reweaving your health. Right now I'm trying to amend a sickness, so the connection is especially helpful!
In modern Swedish there is a cognate word "mycket- pron almost like mick-it", which means much/a lot of: eg. mycket pengar = a lot of money, or "hon pratar mycket" = she talks a lot. In the northern Swedish dialect we often use a form "myche- pron almost like meh-che", meaning essentially the same thing: eg. myche perninga/ SW. mycket pengar = a lot of money. Just thought I'd throw this in here.
“The Scandinavian languages have stor, which does have an English equivalent stour, but you’ll only hear that in particular dialects.” Is this the etymology of the word “stout,” which also implies something or someone large and strong?
Apparently not. From a quick check online, "stout" comes (via French!) from a West Germanic root "*stult" meaning proud, from proto-Germanic "*stoltaz" (see German "stolz"). Whereas Scandinavian "stor" traces back to a Proto-Germanic root "*storaz". So at least back to that level they don't look related.
It occurs to me that we do still have a vestige of “big” meaning “powerful” but not necessarily “large” in the phrases “big man” and “big shot”. Both are sort of dismissive but that’s clearly their intent.
As mentioned by other comments I feel the connection between stout and strong/large. Stout is meant to describe a large, heavy person - it’s used a lot in Scotland. I was amazed to hear it meant naughty in Dutch. However, both differences can find a possible common denominator in the fact that they refer to boldness or daring and essentially taking up space. It’s always fascinating to observe how words change shape;colour; sound;texture and meaning in different soils. Indeed, they are little conduits of meaning DNA.
Wonderful as always. I had to pause in the middle to look up amend. Mend (from an illness) always felt like Germanic to me but Amend is clearly Latin. E(x)mendare means to take out the faults, which fits both reweaving a fabric and reweaving your health. Right now I'm trying to amend a sickness, so the connection is especially helpful!
I love hearing about these mystery words in English. Thank you!
| Come on, dream big.
Bookend appreciated. 🙂
In modern Swedish there is a cognate word "mycket- pron almost like mick-it", which means much/a lot of: eg. mycket pengar = a lot of money, or "hon pratar mycket" = she talks a lot. In the northern Swedish dialect we often use a form "myche- pron almost like meh-che", meaning essentially the same thing: eg. myche perninga/ SW. mycket pengar = a lot of money. Just thought I'd throw this in here.
" . . . the etymological equivalent of seeing Elvis on a piece of toast." Sheer poetry, Colin!
It was a little big … and pretty ugly.
“The Scandinavian languages have stor, which does have an English equivalent stour, but you’ll only hear that in particular dialects.” Is this the etymology of the word “stout,” which also implies something or someone large and strong?
Apparently not. From a quick check online, "stout" comes (via French!) from a West Germanic root "*stult" meaning proud, from proto-Germanic "*stoltaz" (see German "stolz"). Whereas Scandinavian "stor" traces back to a Proto-Germanic root "*storaz". So at least back to that level they don't look related.
It occurs to me that we do still have a vestige of “big” meaning “powerful” but not necessarily “large” in the phrases “big man” and “big shot”. Both are sort of dismissive but that’s clearly their intent.
Doesn’t mickle in northern dialect mean “small”, though? As in “many a mickle mack a muckle” (lots of small things make a lot)
A “big” mystery … and why not? A bit of mystery is more than welcome in this sometimes over-explained world .
Thank you Colin
As mentioned by other comments I feel the connection between stout and strong/large. Stout is meant to describe a large, heavy person - it’s used a lot in Scotland. I was amazed to hear it meant naughty in Dutch. However, both differences can find a possible common denominator in the fact that they refer to boldness or daring and essentially taking up space. It’s always fascinating to observe how words change shape;colour; sound;texture and meaning in different soils. Indeed, they are little conduits of meaning DNA.