4 ms·

Just as "waterstuff" ("Wasserstoff" in German) for "hydrogen" ("hudro" = water), and "sourstuff" ("Sauerstoff" in German) for "oxygen" ("oxys" = "sharp, acid").

by FabHK 8y ago

Just as "waterstuff" ("Wasserstoff" in German) for "hydrogen" ("hudro" = water), and "sourstuff" ("Sauerstoff" in German) for "oxygen" ("oxys" = "sharp, acid"). Anyway. Also, "airplane' = "Flugzeug" in German = "Flying stuff". This is fun, actually. Flystuffs are outsending so much coaltwosourstuff that it is enharming the vapourball.

mc32 8y ago
Huh, I always had thought ‘zeug’ was ‘thing’ rather than ‘stuff’ (quantifiable vs. unquantifiable). (lighter, toy, plane, etc.) But... it looks like I’m wrong and most of the time it refers to ‘stuff’.
- FabHK 8y ago
  Hmm, "Zeug" is uncountable and without plural (like "stuff"), while "Ding" is countable and has a plural (like "thing"). I think I've seen "Flugzeug" rendered as "Flything", but "Flystuff" feels closer.
- atombender 8y ago
  "Zeug" makes more sense if you think of it as the English "gear" -- tools and equipment, the original etymology -- which is also uncountable. "Thing" isn't entirely wrong, but it's specifically a thing that is some sort of device that has utility. A Flugzeug can be thought or as flying equipment, Fahrzeug is driving equipment, and so on. In Norwegian and Danish you'll have -tøy/-tøj words that came from Germanic via Old Norse: "fartøy" (vehicle or boat, as in "Fahrzeug"), "leketøy/legetøj" (toy; literally play-thing). "Zeug" (or rather, its proto-Germanic ancestor) survives in English as "toy", funnily enough.
  - kuerbel 8y ago
    Thank you, now I don't have to explain it haha. I just want to add that in medieval times Zeug was also used to refer to arms and armor. Some cities still have a Zeughaus, nowadays usually a museum for plate armor etc. The pejorative connotation wasn't there back then.
    - bhaak 8y ago
      In Switzerland the term "Zeughaus" is still in use as the official term for an arsenal or armory.
  - FearNotDaniel 8y ago
    Not to mention "lekking", which still means "playing" in parts of northern England.
  - Tistron 8y ago
    In Swedish we also have "-tyg" and "-don" which is similar. So we have far-tyg for faring-stuff on water, and for-don for faring-stuff on land. Tyg on itself is fabric, like "stoff" is in German or Danish (in Danish stof is also drugs or matter in general).
  - FabHK 8y ago
    "Gear" makes a lot of sense. "Zaumzeug" denotes the bridles used to control horses. Etymology is just fascinating.
lordnacho 8y ago
In Danish nitrogen is "Kvælstof", or "Strangling stuff". From German: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Stickstoff#German https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Stickstoff#German I'm guessing because Nitrogen gas will kill a flame?
- kryptiskt 8y ago
  Swedish optimizes that and leave out the "stuff", so we have "syre" and "kväve".
- PavlikPaja 8y ago
  When you breath pure nitrogen, you suffocate without really noticing anything.
  - arethuza 8y ago
    There have been suggestions that nitrogen could be used as a means of execution: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11495658/Michael-Portillo-inspires-Oklahoma-to-consider-execution-by-nitrogen.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/... [NB Personally, I'm not in favour of executing anyone, but if you must do it why not do it so that it doesn't cause any suffering?]
- seszett 8y ago
  In French it's azote, meaning lifeless. I think many languages use a variation of this (based on the Greek roots) as well.
AnthonBerg 8y ago
A 100% literal one-to-one translation yields a passage in Icelandic which would be considered good Icelandic: Flugvélar gefa frá sér svo mikinn koltvísýring að það skaðar gufuhvolfið. “Vél” (machine) has an amazing history. It’s from the same roots as wheel, wile (as in cunning), and will. And some other proto-indo-european words that carry connotations of prophecy and bending the world to one’s will through divination and cunning and guile, and consecrating it to holiness. You know, with machines. Vélar. Crafted from thought and understanding of the deeper layers of the world. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/v%C3%A9l#Etymology_2 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/v%C3%A9l#Etymology_2
- pjc50 8y ago
  My favourite one of those is https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/t%C3%B6lva https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/t%C3%B6lva : computer, from "number-witch". Referenced in the game Signal From Tolva, and the essay "Hexing the Technical Interview".
eecc 8y ago
Dutch for airplane is "vliegtuig", composed of "vlieg(en)" to fly, and "tuig" rig, gear which is reasonably a synecdoche for "machine". Interesting... I'm constantly frustrated by the diffuse ignorance of etymology, knowing where words - used to represent and describe - come from provides a surprisingly pleasant depth to everyday life.
SilasX 8y ago
I wish German used Sonnestoff (sunstuff) for helium, Geldstoff (moneystuff) for gold, and Salzstoff (saltstuff) for sodium. Also I think I heard that German-speaking "Pennsylvania Dutch" speakers in the US independently started calling an airplane a Flugschiff (flyship) when they first started seeing them.
- FabHK 8y ago
  That would make a lot of sense. "Sonnenstoff", with an extra "n", probably; it rolls of the tongue more easily. Zeppelins are also called "Luftschiff", airship (giving rise to the usual German concatenations such as "Luftschiffahrtsmuseum" (airship transport museum)).

by FabHK 8y ago

mc32 8y ago

Huh, I always had thought ‘zeug’ was ‘thing’ rather than ‘stuff’ (quantifiable vs. unquantifiable). (lighter, toy, plane, etc.) But... it looks like I’m wrong and most of the time it refers to ‘stuff’.

FabHK 8y ago
Hmm, "Zeug" is uncountable and without plural (like "stuff"), while "Ding" is countable and has a plural (like "thing"). I think I've seen "Flugzeug" rendered as "Flything", but "Flystuff" feels closer.
atombender 8y ago
"Zeug" makes more sense if you think of it as the English "gear" -- tools and equipment, the original etymology -- which is also uncountable. "Thing" isn't entirely wrong, but it's specifically a thing that is some sort of device that has utility. A Flugzeug can be thought or as flying equipment, Fahrzeug is driving equipment, and so on. In Norwegian and Danish you'll have -tøy/-tøj words that came from Germanic via Old Norse: "fartøy" (vehicle or boat, as in "Fahrzeug"), "leketøy/legetøj" (toy; literally play-thing). "Zeug" (or rather, its proto-Germanic ancestor) survives in English as "toy", funnily enough.
- kuerbel 8y ago
  Thank you, now I don't have to explain it haha. I just want to add that in medieval times Zeug was also used to refer to arms and armor. Some cities still have a Zeughaus, nowadays usually a museum for plate armor etc. The pejorative connotation wasn't there back then.
  - bhaak 8y ago
    In Switzerland the term "Zeughaus" is still in use as the official term for an arsenal or armory.
- FearNotDaniel 8y ago
  Not to mention "lekking", which still means "playing" in parts of northern England.
- Tistron 8y ago
  In Swedish we also have "-tyg" and "-don" which is similar. So we have far-tyg for faring-stuff on water, and for-don for faring-stuff on land. Tyg on itself is fabric, like "stoff" is in German or Danish (in Danish stof is also drugs or matter in general).
- FabHK 8y ago
  "Gear" makes a lot of sense. "Zaumzeug" denotes the bridles used to control horses. Etymology is just fascinating.

lordnacho 8y ago

In Danish nitrogen is "Kvælstof", or "Strangling stuff". From German: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Stickstoff#German https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Stickstoff#German I'm guessing because Nitrogen gas will kill a flame?

kryptiskt 8y ago
Swedish optimizes that and leave out the "stuff", so we have "syre" and "kväve".
PavlikPaja 8y ago
When you breath pure nitrogen, you suffocate without really noticing anything.
- arethuza 8y ago
  There have been suggestions that nitrogen could be used as a means of execution: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11495658/Michael-Portillo-inspires-Oklahoma-to-consider-execution-by-nitrogen.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/... [NB Personally, I'm not in favour of executing anyone, but if you must do it why not do it so that it doesn't cause any suffering?]
seszett 8y ago
In French it's azote, meaning lifeless. I think many languages use a variation of this (based on the Greek roots) as well.

AnthonBerg 8y ago

A 100% literal one-to-one translation yields a passage in Icelandic which would be considered good Icelandic: Flugvélar gefa frá sér svo mikinn koltvísýring að það skaðar gufuhvolfið. “Vél” (machine) has an amazing history. It’s from the same roots as wheel, wile (as in cunning), and will. And some other proto-indo-european words that carry connotations of prophecy and bending the world to one’s will through divination and cunning and guile, and consecrating it to holiness. You know, with machines. Vélar. Crafted from thought and understanding of the deeper layers of the world. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/v%C3%A9l#Etymology_2 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/v%C3%A9l#Etymology_2

pjc50 8y ago
My favourite one of those is https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/t%C3%B6lva https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/t%C3%B6lva : computer, from "number-witch". Referenced in the game Signal From Tolva, and the essay "Hexing the Technical Interview".

eecc 8y ago

Dutch for airplane is "vliegtuig", composed of "vlieg(en)" to fly, and "tuig" rig, gear which is reasonably a synecdoche for "machine". Interesting... I'm constantly frustrated by the diffuse ignorance of etymology, knowing where words - used to represent and describe - come from provides a surprisingly pleasant depth to everyday life.

SilasX 8y ago

I wish German used Sonnestoff (sunstuff) for helium, Geldstoff (moneystuff) for gold, and Salzstoff (saltstuff) for sodium. Also I think I heard that German-speaking "Pennsylvania Dutch" speakers in the US independently started calling an airplane a Flugschiff (flyship) when they first started seeing them.

FabHK 8y ago
That would make a lot of sense. "Sonnenstoff", with an extra "n", probably; it rolls of the tongue more easily. Zeppelins are also called "Luftschiff", airship (giving rise to the usual German concatenations such as "Luftschiffahrtsmuseum" (airship transport museum)).