Post #2138518

2026-05-06 16:04 UTC

i often realize i&#39;m not sure what the provenance of a given word is and go look it up and i am rarely disappointed. english is such a delightfully batshit kitchen sink of a language (from etymonline.com)

Replies (4)

@what@chaosfem.tw 2026-05-06 16:08

@miriamrobern I knew this one! But only because I’m a massive nerd! There’s a long list of games in it which is important as an early source of information about games (writing out game rules or about games at all is a very recent phenomenon, and most of our earlier sources come from oblique mentions or laws outlawing specific games, etc) https://games.porg.es/articles/lists/rabelais/

Open ##2169789
@aburka@hachyderm.io 2026-05-07 05:12

@miriamrobern so it means... "throat-sized"?

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@jhv@triangletoot.party 2026-05-07 13:47

@miriamrobern When I was a kid, I hated how batchit & illogical English was. Now I absolutely love it. I'm also extremely glad I grew up learning it: if I had to learn it as a 2nd language, I'd probably give up. 😂

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@mtheriaultsf@mas.to 2026-05-07 22:02

@miriamrobern@dice.camp It’s a wild old book, of which I’m very very fond.

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