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[–] 13 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Dutch: verstandskies, translated to wisdom tooth as verstand means wisdom, but if you change the intonation, you get the real original word: ver-stands-kies, meaning far standing tooth. The English word wisdom tooth is a wrong translation of the Dutch.

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  • [–] 10 points 6 days ago (1 child)

    Wisdom tooth, one of the last four molar teeth to emerge on either side of the jaw, is so called by 1848 (earlier teeth of wisdom, 1660s, wit-tooth, c. 1600), a loan-translation of Latin dentes sapientiae, [...]

    https://www.etymonline.com/word/wisdom

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