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> In a Native American language of California called Atsugewi (now extinct), if a tree was burned and we found the ashes in a creek afterward, we would have sai

> In a Native American language of California called Atsugewi (now extinct), if a tree was burned and we found the ashes in a creek afterward, we would have said that soot w’oqhputíc’tainto the creek. W’oqhputíc’ta is a conglomeration of bits that mean “it moved like dirt, in a falling fashion, into liquid, and for real.” In English, we would just say “flowed.” I realized something like that in English when translating. The word "slay" means, according to a basic dictionary, to kill (violently). But to an English speaker it means much more. I wouldn't say that a school shooter slayed the children, rather shot. The Boston bomber didn't slay the runners, but rather bombed. I would consider slaying to be an act done by a sword. But, in the case of a terrorist stabbing people, I would call that a stabbing, not staying. I would say that slaying is only appropriate if the sword attack was going across a body and not directly into, like with stabbing.

fasigonio 8y ago
"Slay" is a funny word. I think of it mostly having a connotation of a just person killing something evil. So I could slay a dragon, but not a chicken. It has connotations of heroism.
- Kirth 8y ago
  Chickens can be proper evil buggers. Slaying is júst the word you are looking for.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago
    Thank you! Remember they are, in essense, dinosaurs. Evil little dionsaurs with mad, beady eyes!
  - rjplatte 8y ago
    "And lo, it was an evil chicken before my eyes. And as he was evil, I slew him."
- monocasa 8y ago
  IDK, many serial killers are known as The Foo Bar Slayer.
  - fasigonio 8y ago
    Maybe it's actually that it's archaic and, therefore, used only for grandiose things? Serial killers are usually given "cool" names. I don't know exactly what the connotation is, but it's real.
- yowlingcat 8y ago
  It almost becomes fully inverted in the Legend of Zelda games. I think this behavior is there in the whole series, but in Ocarina of Time in particular, if you kill a chicken, there's a dramatic cutscene of the chicken dying which foreshadows the chicken's brethren registering your evil. They then chase and attack you. You can't fight the horde back, so they eventually kill you unless you get indoors before that occurs.
  - kjeetgill 8y ago
    Minor correction: When you attempt to kill a cucco (chicken) after a few hits it'll crow for the backup ones which kill you. The first one never dies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFRI3byJgYA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFRI3byJgYA
- scirocco 8y ago
  "The enemy has been neutralized"
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
sverige 8y ago
The roots for the modern word slay go very far back with a basic meaning of 'to strike' or 'to beat.' So shooting and bombing are definitely in that range, since they involve a bullet or shrapnel or a concussive force striking and killing. The reason it seems inappropriate is because it is archaic. P.S. The better past tense is slew, not slayed.
mac01021 8y ago
Apparently "slay" connotes a lot more to you than it does to me. I do find it an odd (but probably not wrong) word to use for a bombing murder, but the rest seem not at all strange to me.
alejohausner 8y ago
English has lots of pairs of words that both mean the same thing. Examples: pork and swine, beef and cow, mutton and sheep, battle and fight, fraternity and brother, justice and right, elevate and lift. The words pork, beef, mutton, battle, fraternity, justice, elevate are all French, and were used by the Norman aristocracy after 1066. They all connote sophistication and nobility. The words swine, cow, sheep, fight, brother, right, lift are all Anglo-Saxon, and were used by the powerless peasants after 1066. They all connote earthiness and familiarity. There is a fun podcast "The History of English" that covers a lot of this stuff. If liked the OP, you'll like the podcast.
- gerdesj 8y ago
  You mention beef and cow but missed steak and here is where it gets really freaky! Beef is derived from boeuf. Beefsteak is English. Biftek is French and derived from beefsteak. So the French word is derived from English which was, in turn, French. A quick search shows that the etymology of steak seems to be Norse. So we have a good old mishmash here. Anyway, the important point is that England invented the beefsteak and exported the concept to France. However they do seem to have accepted the baton and done a pretty good job with it ever since.
  - delcaran 8y ago
    In Italian we have "bistecca", which is a slab of red meat, not only from beef but also from pork.
  - mercer 8y ago
    The word 'boulevard' is similarly freaky. The Dutch (and others) took it from the French, who initially took it from the Dutch (bolwerc/bullwark).
- emmelaich 8y ago
  But those words don't mean the same thing.
hnuser355 8y ago
Yas queen slay!!

fasigonio 8y ago

"Slay" is a funny word. I think of it mostly having a connotation of a just person killing something evil. So I could slay a dragon, but not a chicken. It has connotations of heroism.

Kirth 8y ago
Chickens can be proper evil buggers. Slaying is júst the word you are looking for.
- YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago
  Thank you! Remember they are, in essense, dinosaurs. Evil little dionsaurs with mad, beady eyes!
- rjplatte 8y ago
  "And lo, it was an evil chicken before my eyes. And as he was evil, I slew him."
monocasa 8y ago
IDK, many serial killers are known as The Foo Bar Slayer.
- fasigonio 8y ago
  Maybe it's actually that it's archaic and, therefore, used only for grandiose things? Serial killers are usually given "cool" names. I don't know exactly what the connotation is, but it's real.
yowlingcat 8y ago
It almost becomes fully inverted in the Legend of Zelda games. I think this behavior is there in the whole series, but in Ocarina of Time in particular, if you kill a chicken, there's a dramatic cutscene of the chicken dying which foreshadows the chicken's brethren registering your evil. They then chase and attack you. You can't fight the horde back, so they eventually kill you unless you get indoors before that occurs.
- kjeetgill 8y ago
  Minor correction: When you attempt to kill a cucco (chicken) after a few hits it'll crow for the backup ones which kill you. The first one never dies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFRI3byJgYA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFRI3byJgYA
scirocco 8y ago
"The enemy has been neutralized"

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

sverige 8y ago

The roots for the modern word slay go very far back with a basic meaning of 'to strike' or 'to beat.' So shooting and bombing are definitely in that range, since they involve a bullet or shrapnel or a concussive force striking and killing. The reason it seems inappropriate is because it is archaic. P.S. The better past tense is slew, not slayed.

mac01021 8y ago

Apparently "slay" connotes a lot more to you than it does to me. I do find it an odd (but probably not wrong) word to use for a bombing murder, but the rest seem not at all strange to me.

alejohausner 8y ago

English has lots of pairs of words that both mean the same thing. Examples: pork and swine, beef and cow, mutton and sheep, battle and fight, fraternity and brother, justice and right, elevate and lift. The words pork, beef, mutton, battle, fraternity, justice, elevate are all French, and were used by the Norman aristocracy after 1066. They all connote sophistication and nobility. The words swine, cow, sheep, fight, brother, right, lift are all Anglo-Saxon, and were used by the powerless peasants after 1066. They all connote earthiness and familiarity. There is a fun podcast "The History of English" that covers a lot of this stuff. If liked the OP, you'll like the podcast.

gerdesj 8y ago
You mention beef and cow but missed steak and here is where it gets really freaky! Beef is derived from boeuf. Beefsteak is English. Biftek is French and derived from beefsteak. So the French word is derived from English which was, in turn, French. A quick search shows that the etymology of steak seems to be Norse. So we have a good old mishmash here. Anyway, the important point is that England invented the beefsteak and exported the concept to France. However they do seem to have accepted the baton and done a pretty good job with it ever since.
- delcaran 8y ago
  In Italian we have "bistecca", which is a slab of red meat, not only from beef but also from pork.
- mercer 8y ago
  The word 'boulevard' is similarly freaky. The Dutch (and others) took it from the French, who initially took it from the Dutch (bolwerc/bullwark).
emmelaich 8y ago
But those words don't mean the same thing.

hnuser355 8y ago

Yas queen slay!!