▲ 231 ▼ What's an interesting etymology for a common term? (feddit.uk) submitted 4 months ago by Iconoclast@feddit.uk to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world 213 comments fedilink hide all child comments
[–] spittingimage@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago (1 child) I've read that the -ard suffice meant 'too much'. Wizard = too much wisdom, drunkard = drank too much. I wonder what 'bastard' meant too much of. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] hakase@lemmy.zip 16 points 4 months ago* (1 child) The -ard/art suffix had already become a pejorative by that time (due to the association of "too much X, and therefore to negative excess"), so a bastard was a "(bad) (child) of the bast", meaning "saddle". That is, a child conceived in a makeshift bed, usually on the road, instead of properly in a marriage bed. Source permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] Yaky@slrpnk.net 1 point 3 months ago Another one on illegitimate children: "Son of a gun" is a shortened "son of a gun deck", i.e. conceived by a sailor on a gun deck. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] hakase@lemmy.zip 16 points 4 months ago* (1 child) The -ard/art suffix had already become a pejorative by that time (due to the association of "too much X, and therefore to negative excess"), so a bastard was a "(bad) (child) of the bast", meaning "saddle". That is, a child conceived in a makeshift bed, usually on the road, instead of properly in a marriage bed. Source permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] Yaky@slrpnk.net 1 point 3 months ago Another one on illegitimate children: "Son of a gun" is a shortened "son of a gun deck", i.e. conceived by a sailor on a gun deck. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Yaky@slrpnk.net 1 point 3 months ago Another one on illegitimate children: "Son of a gun" is a shortened "son of a gun deck", i.e. conceived by a sailor on a gun deck. permalink fedilink source parent