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English is my second language and Latin my third. While the latter is not as useful as learning Spanish or French in day to day communication, it really helped
by leipert 5y ago
English is my second language and Latin my third. While the latter is not as useful as learning Spanish or French in day to day communication, it really helped my English capabilities as a lot of words in English are Latin based.
My favorite etymological thing is the German „Bank“ which can mean bench or bank. Funnily enough the financial institution is a loan via the Italian „banca“ but that itself goes back to the same old Germanic root as the bench you sit on.
- DanielDe 5y agoHa, I love this! A bit more history from the Wikipedia article on banks: > Benches were used as makeshift desks or exchange counters during the Renaissance by Florentine bankers
- jahnu 5y agoBankrupt, or Bankrott from German means rotten bench. You can work out the rest :)
- tomjakubowski 5y ago-rupt comes from Latin rompere meaning to break. (see also "rupture")
- Sharlin 5y agoAnd "erupt", "disrupt", and "abrupt", which come from roots literally meaning "out-break", "apart-break", and "away-break", respectively :)
- leipert 5y agoSeems like a false assumption. According to wiktionary it comes from „banca rotta“ where rotta goes back to Latin „rumpere“ which means „to break“. Whereas the English rotten or the German go back to old Norse „rutna“ (to rot). The two don’t share the same root.
- tragomaskhalos 5y agoAlso Modern Greek bank = Trapeza = ancient Gk for table, so I guess this derivation via furniture that you sat on / traded money over is common
- PennRobotics 5y agoThe difference between German's Gift (poison) and the English gift (a present) amuses me. Evidently, they both derive from something being given e.g. a lethal dosage, in the German case. Related: Be mindful when your Denglish tempts you to say, "Danke für das Gift!"