Iconoclast@feddit.uk to

Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world · 8 days ago

What's an interesting etymology for a common term?

222

What's an interesting etymology for a common term?

Iconoclast@feddit.uk to

Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world · 8 days ago

Chat

iocase@lemmy.zip
link
fedilink
arrow-up
45
arrow-down
1·
6 days ago
“Helicopter” isn’t heli - copter

It’s helico - pter.

Helico: Greek for helix or spiral.

Pter: Greek for wing, like a pterodactyl.
- tomiant@piefed.social
  link
  fedilink
  English
  arrow-up
  7·
  6 days ago
  Ooooooh great one!
  - iocase@lemmy.zip
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4·
    6 days ago
    Thanks ☺️! I’m glad you like it! It blew my mind when I first learned it.

Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world

asklemmy@lemmy.world

You are not logged in. However you can subscribe from another Fediverse account, for example Lemmy or Mastodon. To do this, paste the following into the search field of your instance: !asklemmy@lemmy.world

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for ‘how do I?’, type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

6) No US Politics.

Please don’t post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu

Visibility: Public

This community can be federated to other instances and be posted/commented in by their users.

1.35K users / day
4.61K users / week
9.47K users / month
19.6K users / 6 months
2 local subscribers
39.6K subscribers
7.26K Posts
354K Comments
Modlog