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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 br

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.