Interesting Words (moved from Games)
- Thread starter Pacifica
- Start date
But Arabic does have some nice onomatopoeic verbs. The first one I came across (and I've mentioned it elsewhere) was وسوس, waswasa, "to whisper". It's something the Devil likes to do.
Makes me think of Japanese 噂 uwasa "rumor, gossip", although it doesn't appear to be onomatopoeic (even though Japanese has a LOT of lexicalized onomatopoeias, very commonly turned into verbs).
orthostat - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
I just came across the French equivalent ("orthostate") for, I think, the first time. I knew the adjective "orthostatic" (and Fr. "orthostatique") as a medical term, but not the noun used in archeology.
I just came across the French equivalent ("orthostate") for, I think, the first time. I knew the adjective "orthostatic" (and Fr. "orthostatique") as a medical term, but not the noun used in archeology.
If it is related to yellow, it must be a loan, otherwise it should have initial h-; the regular cognate is helvus.
I didn't know that one either. It seems equally rare as gilvus.
I've known this word for a long time but never wondered about its origin until today.
spépieux — Wiktionnaire, le dictionnaire libre (wiktionary.org)
spépieux — Wiktionnaire, le dictionnaire libre (wiktionary.org)
Oh dear.
