The Definite Article
Will, my 9-year-old, comes to me the other day and says, "Hey Dad, where do words come from? I mean, who makes 'em up?"
"Well", I replied, "Words typically come from root words developed in other languages, mainly Latin." I had no idea if that's really true, but it sounded close.
Will looked at me as if I just whapped him upside the head. "Okay. No, I mean, like, who made up the word 'the'?"
That got me thinking. Who does make these words up? Like the word 'lymph'. Who came up with that? "Lymph" sounds like a lame fairy. Or perhaps a delicious, naturally occurring berry:
"Would you like some Lymphberry jam on your croissant?"
I have cancer in my lymph nodes, so I have to refer to it occasionally, and I have to say: it is a pretty freaking goofy word. Lymph is described as the "interstitial fluid found between the cells of the human body". It travels to lymph nodes, and then eventually filters into the bloodstream. The Anatomical Word Department could have come up with something better. Anything. It could have been a "doohickey".
The doctor looks me in the eye and says, "Bill, I'm going to level with you. You have doohickey cancer. We''re concerned it may have spread to your thingie."
For other example of silly-sounding body parts, see also: Larynx, spleen, aorta, pancreas, bladder, and medulla oblongata. Latin, I believe.
Just for fun, they should name some body parts in Pig Latin.
The doctor looks me in the eye and says, "Illbay, Ouyay avehay ancercay inay ethay Oohickeyday."
I checked it out on Dictionary.com, which explains that 'the' is the most commonly used word, and the only definite article in the English language. Here's what it says about the etymology of 'the':
THE
late O.E. þe, nom. masc. form of the demonstrative pronoun and adj. After c.950, it replaced earlier se (masc.), seo (fem.), þæt (neut.), and probably represents se altered by the þ- form which was used in all the masc. oblique cases (see below). O.E. se is from PIE base *so- "this, that" (cf. Skt. sa, Avestan ha, Gk. ho, he "the," Ir., Gael. so "this"). For the þ- forms, see that. The s- forms were entirely superseded in Eng. by c.1250, excepting dial. survival slightly longer in Kent. O.E. used 10 different words for "the" (see table, below), but did not distinguish "the" from "that." That survived for a time as a definite article before vowels (cf. that one or that other). Adv. use in the more the merrier, the sooner the better, etc. is a relic of O.E. þy, originally the instrumentive case of the neuter demonstrative þæt (see that).
You get that? Me neither. I told Will some dude made 'the' up a long, long time ago. Works for me.
"Well", I replied, "Words typically come from root words developed in other languages, mainly Latin." I had no idea if that's really true, but it sounded close.
Will looked at me as if I just whapped him upside the head. "Okay. No, I mean, like, who made up the word 'the'?"
That got me thinking. Who does make these words up? Like the word 'lymph'. Who came up with that? "Lymph" sounds like a lame fairy. Or perhaps a delicious, naturally occurring berry:
"Would you like some Lymphberry jam on your croissant?"
I have cancer in my lymph nodes, so I have to refer to it occasionally, and I have to say: it is a pretty freaking goofy word. Lymph is described as the "interstitial fluid found between the cells of the human body". It travels to lymph nodes, and then eventually filters into the bloodstream. The Anatomical Word Department could have come up with something better. Anything. It could have been a "doohickey".
The doctor looks me in the eye and says, "Bill, I'm going to level with you. You have doohickey cancer. We''re concerned it may have spread to your thingie."
For other example of silly-sounding body parts, see also: Larynx, spleen, aorta, pancreas, bladder, and medulla oblongata. Latin, I believe.
Just for fun, they should name some body parts in Pig Latin.
The doctor looks me in the eye and says, "Illbay, Ouyay avehay ancercay inay ethay Oohickeyday."
I checked it out on Dictionary.com, which explains that 'the' is the most commonly used word, and the only definite article in the English language. Here's what it says about the etymology of 'the':
THE
late O.E. þe, nom. masc. form of the demonstrative pronoun and adj. After c.950, it replaced earlier se (masc.), seo (fem.), þæt (neut.), and probably represents se altered by the þ- form which was used in all the masc. oblique cases (see below). O.E. se is from PIE base *so- "this, that" (cf. Skt. sa, Avestan ha, Gk. ho, he "the," Ir., Gael. so "this"). For the þ- forms, see that. The s- forms were entirely superseded in Eng. by c.1250, excepting dial. survival slightly longer in Kent. O.E. used 10 different words for "the" (see table, below), but did not distinguish "the" from "that." That survived for a time as a definite article before vowels (cf. that one or that other). Adv. use in the more the merrier, the sooner the better, etc. is a relic of O.E. þy, originally the instrumentive case of the neuter demonstrative þæt (see that).
You get that? Me neither. I told Will some dude made 'the' up a long, long time ago. Works for me.
My father-in-law had cancer of the LIMP nodes, according to him, anyway. No matter how often he was corrected, they were LIMP nodes.
I love reading your blog.
Stay funny and bold.
xoxo j
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OMG, that is sooooo funny! I can remember asking my parents where the word "plate" came from and being really curious about who made up different words. They told me to "look it up" in the trusty encyclopedia
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