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A graph that traces words back to their origin and shows how they morphed along the way emerged on Twitter and is blowing people's minds. But the genius behind the graph that is mesmerizing people is not even a wordsmith. He's a glaciologist and research scientist at Swansea University in Wales who studies the interaction between the ocean and ice.
To clarify, etymologies are not word definitions. Instead, it's a study showing the origin of a word's meaning and how it's evolved since 600 or 2,000 years ago.
On Thursday, Martin O'Leary found common roots to random words rendered them into a visual etymology chart and posted several of these graphs on Twitter.
This tweet reads, "Languages are bananas." We see the appeal.
Languages are bananas https://t.co/ROlVZEu0La— Martin O'Leary (@Martin O'Leary) 1517507110.0
O'Leary was inspired by information from the Online Etymology Dictionary. He found that the words "blue," "riboflavin," "bleach," "phlegm," and "flamingo" were derivations from the Proto-Indo-European word "bhel," which means "to shine," of course.
The graph shows that "black," "phlegm" and "flamingo" stemmed from the Proto-Indo-European word "bhleg," meaning "to burn," which stemmed from "bhel." Fascinating.
I always find these linguistic traces to be beautiful and inspiring. https://t.co/QUeZYF93SG— The Blurst of Toms (@The Blurst of Toms) 1517532904.0
What do "husband," "bondage," and "bumpkin" have in common? Nothing kinky with rural inhabitants, as far as we know.
But those three words, in addition to: "neighbor," "phyiscs," and" imp," all trace back to the Proto-Indo-European word of "bheue," which means "to exist" or "to grow."
Languages are bananas https://t.co/ROlVZEu0La— Martin O'Leary (@Martin O'Leary) 1517507110.0
Using "bondage" as an example, "bheue" became "bua," which means "to dwell" in Old Norse. The word eventually turned into "bondi," meaning "dweller" in Old Norse, and then it morphed into "bonda" in Old English, changing its meaning to "householder."
In Middle English, the word turned to "bond," which means "serf" before it became the English word we know today as "bondage."
@mewo2 For those keeping score at home, yes, "bheue" is also the root of the English "be/being/been" (but *not* "is/am/are" or "was/were").— Tim Stellmach (@Tim Stellmach) 1517514500.0
The graphic posts were going viral, prompting O'Leary to share more.
Now that this is blowing up, I should probably note that it was inspired by @aparrish pointing out the text/tissue/… https://t.co/mSADEjsEUs— Martin O'Leary (@Martin O'Leary) 1517525825.0
@noop_noob The original English meaning of “flavour” is “smell”, then specifically “the part of taste which depends… https://t.co/Jwng7FI3yq— Martin O'Leary (@Martin O'Leary) 1517517461.0
He provides more examples, including one that shows "science" and "sh*t" are cousins, and "architect" and "dachshunds" are third cousins.
r u saying “dachshunds” are literally “badger dogs”??? https://t.co/g7qckBkD7P— Dave Agbayani 2 point O (@Dave Agbayani 2 point O) 1517532086.0
@disisdadave Yes, it's true! Dachshunds were bred to hunt pesky badgers!🐾🐾 Right, @Celeb_Dachshund??— Melissa K (@Melissa K) 1517548908.0
@wobbles Old French sourse, from Latin surgere "to rise" = sub + regere "to guide", ultimately from PIE reg "to mov… https://t.co/vi73nFplcM— Martin O'Leary (@Martin O'Leary) 1517512421.0
People wanted to learn more about the origin of various words. A whole world revealed itself, thanks to O'Leary.
@mewo2 @wobbles Please make a book! I could look at charts like that for days...— Meara O'Reilly (@Meara O'Reilly) 1517522934.0
@mewo2 @oleganza I love that "nice" derives from Latin and Old French words meaning "ignorant." Sounds about right.— Brian Patrick Eha (@Brian Patrick Eha) 1517528340.0
@mewo2 ‘Wig’ - To move back and forth. How fantastically appropriate!— Greg Durrett (@Greg Durrett) 1517516574.0
YAS GIMME THEM ETYMOLOGIES https://t.co/KfkujlPaLy— OT ME ESTÁ ARRUINANDO LA VIDA DIOS MÍO QUÉ ESTRÉS (@OT ME ESTÁ ARRUINANDO LA VIDA DIOS MÍO QUÉ ESTRÉS) 1517519579.0
@mewo2 @wobbles The OED is amazing. Going online is cool, but sitting staring at the pages and pages and pages of t… https://t.co/1yLGp7sLQl— BubblesUp (@BubblesUp) 1517573748.0
H/T - Martinoleary, Twitter, etymonline, Digg