4 ms·
I don’t think it is. It’s not random. Words are borrowed because they’re useful and fill in some gap or serve some new purpose.
by xanderlewis 2y ago
I don’t think it is. It’s not random. Words are borrowed because they’re useful and fill in some gap or serve some new purpose.
- Cthulhu_ 2y agoOr because they differentiate you from others. English is full of that; there's "cow" for the commoners (from Germanic) vs "beef" for the rich (from French). Or thee/thous for commoners vs you (from French 'vous') for the rich. I suppose the new purpose in those cases were to differentiate from the lower classes.