By Yacine Ahtaitay
Every group oh human beings, no matter how small or large, has developed their own language. And language is a tool that never stops evolving and changing, following and mimicking the evolution of humans themselves. Sometimes language is a very logical and straightforward tool, some other times, it makes absolutely no sense. Read on to learn how these words have made it into their current form, and other bizarre details from languages all over the world.
The word ‘orange’ was originally ‘norange.’
Because we could say ‘a norange,’ it gradually lost the ‘n’ and we could eventually say ‘an orange’. That’s why it’s still naranja in Spanish.
In Spanish, /s/ cannot stand alone at the beginning of a word
It is always an /es/ blend like “espalda” or “esta.” This is why Spanish speakers add an /e/ to the beginning of /s/ words in English. For example “e-sprite” for sprite.
“Facetious”
This is the only word in the English language where all the vowels appear in alphabetical order (a-e-i-o-u).
“Porn” is a Thai-English false friend or false cognate.
When you say “porn” in a Thai context, it means a sacred blessing. So, a number of Thai people’s names contain “porn.”
The word “girl” in English was genderless
It was not initially used to refer to a specific gender, but it used to mean “child” or “young person” regardless of the gender.
“Ti voglio bene”
Is an Italian fixed expression you would say to anyone you care about in a non-romantic way (parents, relatives, friends) and it could be translated as “I want you to be fine.”
Don’s ask for a “latte” in Italy
The word “latte,” which English speakers use when referring to coffee with milk, actually means milk in Italian, so if you go to Italy and order “latte”, you get milk. If you want coffee with milk, you should order a cappuccino instead!
“Mayday”
This word, that you hear pilots say when their plane is going down in movies means “help me” in French. We spell it the way it sounds, but the French spelling is m’aider and it’s pronounced the same.
A poisoned union
In Swedish, gift means both married and poison.
“Panini” is plural
the plural word for “sandwich” in Italian. Next time you want to order one, ask for “a panino” not a “panini.”
A first version of this article appeared in The Language Nerds
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