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Deckstacker Elite user Sunny SoCal 442 Posts |
Years ago, upon driving past a storefront sign advertising "Yamaha of Rancho Cucamonga," I was struck by the linguistic diversity exhibited by those 4 words and experienced one of those "Only in America" moments.
Can anyone top it with a 5-word or longer example "taken from the wild," i.e., not made-up? Yamaha <== Japanese of <== Old English/Germanic Rancho <== Spanish/Old French Cucamonga <== American Indian
Never try to teach a pig how to sing. You will waste your time, and it annoys the pig.
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tommy Eternal Order Devil's Island 16544 Posts |
Slang, from Slangenberg, a Dutch general, noted for his abusive and exaggerated epithets when he reproved the men under his command.
Slango, a lad, servant of Gaylove, a young barrister. He dresses up as a woman, and when Squire Sapskull comes from Yorkshire for a wife, Slango passes himself off as Arbella. In the mean time, Gaylove assumes the airs and manners of a Yorkshire tike, and marries Arbella, with whom he is in love. Carey, -The Honest Yorkshireman_ (1736).
If there is a single truth about Magic, it is that nothing on earth so efficiently evades it.
Tommy |
Deckstacker Elite user Sunny SoCal 442 Posts |
- tommy - Not sure what you're trying to say with your post. I was simply pointing out the juxtaposition of words from unrelated language families (although "of" and "rancho" do both ultimately stem from the Indo-European tree) and sought to elicit other examples of the polyglot nature of modern American English.
Never try to teach a pig how to sing. You will waste your time, and it annoys the pig.
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tommy Eternal Order Devil's Island 16544 Posts |
Sorry, I thought you were merely looking for some curios etymologies and those two seemed to me to fit the bill.
The backstories for many words and phrases spring from old fictional characters and dramas.
If there is a single truth about Magic, it is that nothing on earth so efficiently evades it.
Tommy |
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