Words are not as they seem. Of course, we all take them for granted. But from where every word comes from is a story in itself. For example, in my session with Mr. Leathem the other day, I learned that most words that are considered swears come from Old English and Germanic roots, and words that are similar in definition but considered 'clean' come from Middle French and Latin, which provides evidence of the influence of the Catholic Church (Latin), and the French Government (French). But what does this all really mean? Well, it proves that French and Latin were more desirable than English was long ago. Which is interesting, as our own language shuns words that are actually part of one of the languages that founded the one that we all speak today.
Well, that was a mouthful, wasn't it? Wait, it gets better.
Let's talk about meats and the animals that they come from. For example, let's choose 'venison' and 'deer'; venison being the meat which comes from the animal, deer. Let's check the roots of those words.
Venison: Old French veneson, veneisun, venison, venoison (modern French venaison, = Provençal venaizo,venazo, obsolete Spanish venacion, Portuguese veação, Italian venagione) < Latinvēnātiōn-em hunting, < vēnāri to hunt.
Well, there's Old French again. We're also seeing some Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian in there too. Let's try 'deer' next.
O.E. deor "animal, beast," from P.Gmc. *deuzam, the general Germanic word for "animal" (as opposed to man), but often restricted to "wild animal" (cf. O.Fris. diar, Du. dier, O.N. dyr, O.H.G. tior, Ger. Tier "animal," Goth. dius "wild animal," also cf. reindeer), from PIE *dheusom "creature that breathes," from root *dheu- (1) "cloud, breath" (cf. Lith. dusti "gasp," dvesti"gasp, perish;" O.C.S. dychati "breathe;" cf. L. animal from anima "breath"). Sense specialization to a specific animal began in Old English (usual O.E. for what we now call a deer was heorot; see hart), common by 15c., now complete. Probably via hunting, deer being the favorite animal of the chase (cf. Skt. mrga- "wild animal," used especially for "deer"). Deer-lick is first attested 1778, in an American context.
Ignoring that long wall of text, I can tell you that this word comes from Old English and Germanic. But when it comes to food and the animals they come from, it really falls to personal preference. Some people may say they are eating venison, some people may say that they are eating deer. It also works with other words too, like poultry and chicken. Let's check those out too.
Poultry: mid-14c., from O.Fr. pouletrie "domestic fowl" (late 13c.), from poulet "young fowl" (see pullet). Poulterer (1630s) is a redundancy, but has largely ousted original poulter (c.1400), from O.Fr. pouletier "poulterer," with agent suffix -er. Poeticpoulter's measure (1570s) is of fanciful origin.
Well, well, this one comes from Old French. Now, let's try chicken.
Chicken: O.E. cicen "young fowl," which in M.E. came to mean "young chicken," then any chicken, from W.Gmc. *kiukinam (cf. M.Du.kiekijen, Du. kieken, O.N. kjuklingr, Swed. kyckling, Ger. Küken "chicken"), from root *keuk- (echoic of the bird's sound and possibly also the root of cock (n.1)) + dim. suffixes. Adjective sense of "cowardly" is at least as old as 14c. (cf. hen-herte "a chicken-hearted person," mid-15c.); the verb meaning "to back down or fail through cowardice" is from 1943, U.S. slang; as a game of danger to test courage, it is first recorded 1953. Chicken feed "paltry sum of money" is from 1904. Chicken lobster"young lobster," is from c.1960s, American English, apparently from chicken in its sense of "young."
Aha, this one comes from Middle English and West Germanic.
Seeing a pattern here? I know I am. So the next time you look at a word, look at it a little closer, and you'll see how interesting our language actually is.
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