Weird Word Stuff

That's almost believable! I really need to get one of those ungodly huge etymology dictionaries.

Ditto.

As you were by going to look that up.

I knew it was a word, I just like to have proof (it sounds a lot better than going "nyuh-uh!".

When it comes to long words, my favourite is the name of a place in North Wales:- Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantisiliogogogogh.

I think the most often misused word is 'crescendo', which is used these days to mean 'climax', but in fact means almost the opposite. It is an Italian musical term which translates as 'growing', i.e. increasing in volume.

Other curious words are 'fullsome' - used by our Prime Minister and others to mean 'full' or 'whole hearted', but which in fact means sweetly cloying. And another is 'noisesome' which is nothing to do with noises, but in fact means smelly.

Most of these distortions of meaning come about because people think it makes them sound more intellectual if they use a long word in place of a shorter one. Many times unfortunately that choice falls on a word which doesn't mean what they fondly think it does.

Weird word stuff, how about this:

Donald Rumsfeld: "There are things we know we know. There are things we know we don't know. And there are things we don't know we don't know."

The most meaningless junk a politician's mouth can produce ? Wich could be covered by simple, "I don't know".

LOL

w00t! Good one, Selador! Hey Chance, trainspotter's chance at a Hybrid remix!

I'm gonna have to chime in with the full name of Bangkok, which is a pretty weird name 4 a city:

Krungthepmahanakhonamonrattanakosinmahintharaayuthayamahadilokphopnoppharatratchathaniburiromudomratchaniwetmahasathanamonpimanawatansathitsakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit


Oh, and here's another one: why isn't "phone" spelled as "fone"? And why isn't "Phuket" pronounced the way it's spelled? That is truely screwed up.

Patryk,

That quote of Rumsfeld is always used as an example of how stupid the things said by politicians can be. The only problem I have is that it makes perfect sense to me.

Perhaps he might have worded it better:-

We are aware of the extent of our knowledge. We are also aware of the things that lie outside the extent of our knowledge. But there are also many things of which we are totally unaware, and about which we do not recognise our own ignorance.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=a&p=11
amen
O.E., from L.L. amen, from Gk. amen, from Heb., "truth," used adverbially as an expression of agreement (e.g. Deut. xxvii.26, I Kings i.36; cf. Mod.Eng. verily, surely, absolutely in the same sense), from Sem. root a-m-n "to be trustworthy, confirm, support." Used in O.E. only at the end of Gospels, otherwise translated as Soðlic! or Swa hit ys, or Sy!. As an expression of concurrence after prayers, it is recorded from c.1230.

...
WIKIPedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen

I found the Jewish roots interesting:

In Judaism, it is taught that the word Amen is an acronym for A[l] (or El), Me[lech], N[e'eman] meaning "Lord (or God), King, [who is] Trustworthy." It is related to the Hebrew word emuna or "faith" with the same lingiustic root, implying that one is affirming with, and of, "the faith" of Judaism (and its belief in Monotheism).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amun
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aten

It was more of Aten in the ancient Egyptian mythology that may have been more of the basis for monotheism,


Now, from my studies of linguistics, I've learned that similar-sounding words are often not coincidental.

Is it any surprise then that the Ancient Hebrew name for God, "Yahweh" has been lost how to pronounce it? "יַהְוֶה"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetragrammaton

Of course, I get giddy when you examine how many different meanings the word has depending on the pronunciation and the words containined in it - "I am", "I have been", "I will be", "The one that creates", etc...

Ironically, the original name of Jesus has been altered from Joshua, or "Yeshua", from "Yehoshua". It's kind of funny to hear bible-pounders talk about the power of Jesus' name, which is a garbled translation via ancient Greek.

The best stupid politician quote is when Bill Clinton was on trial and was aked a question by the attorney and he stated " it depends on what the definition of is is"