Interesting Words (moved from Games)

Glabrigausapes

Philistine

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
Milwaukee
While I looked at the regional variants of the main element of the above compound and saw that the Moroccan pronunciation was kīf, it dawned on me that the French expression "kif-kif" must come from there. And, sure enough, it does: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kif-kif
A friend loaned me a book called Kif-kif Demain when I was interested in reading some French.
 
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Etaoin Shrdlu

Guest

All that banging on about word order, and now you're saying it doesn't matter...
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
All that banging on about word order, and now you're saying it doesn't matter...
It's roughly like in English, really, just the other way round: noun-adjective is the normal order with most adjectives,* but adjective-noun can occur in poetry and the like. So it does matter stylistically. But stylistics apart, the point is that bonnet blanc and blanc bonnet denote the same object.

*There are exceptions which you probably know about.
 

Little Augustine

New Member

'Darkling' is an English adverb, as in Keats' 'darkling I listen'. Even if most people think it's the gerund of the nonexistent 'darkle'.

Edit: yes, I know it's not an adjective. But it's not a typical adverb either.
Strange: one honorific title in Arabic is literally "presence". oO

I have heard of " يا حضرة" but never in the second definition as “presence.” Good to know
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
Duo66.PNG


"Bwana" is Swahili for "lord, master". It comes from Arabic أبونا (ʾabūnā), meaning "our father". "Bwana" was borrowed into English slang with the meaning "big boss". It is related to "abbot", which ultimately comes from the Aramaic for "father".

 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
Less interestingly, but by the way, "jabali" also comes from Arabic: جبل (jabal) = mountain.
 

Adrian

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris

Fartlek - running intermixed with periods of slower running

Fuddy-duddy - a person who has old-fashioned ideas and opinions
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
Scottish Gaelic "co-ogha", "cousin", means literally "co-grandchild".
 
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