darkSpyro

I always find this a fun topic to discuss.


Let's start with "chivalry," which as you all know, started out as a code of conduct for knights in Medieval Europe and is now synonymous with noble, gentlemanly qualities.

The most similar word to chivalry is chevalier, which is French for "knight." Sounds reasonable.

But the root word of chevalier (which is now used as an honorific title, akin to Duke, Earl, Count, etc) is cheval, which is French for "horse."

That being said, the literal meaning of chevalier must be "horseman" or "horse rider."

Therefore, almost the entire concept of idyllic, masculine Western conduct is based on the horse, which of course dates back to Antiquity, when the most aristocratic Roman citizens were called equestrians (because only rich people could afford horses).


Also, there's gonorrhea, which is referred to as "the clap" in popular slang. After a bit of light research, one will see there are two main stories as to how it earned that name:

1) It derives from clapier, which is a French word for a brothel or whorehouse. This is the more reasonable one.

2) During the American Civil War, the Napoleonic Wars, and World War I, when gonorrhea spread like wildfire among troops, legend has it that a soldier would take a large, hard object (typically the butt of his rifle) and slam it down on his infected area, releasing the pus, therefore making a clapping sound.


Anyone else know any good ones?

I just saw Panera Bread make a post on facebook. It said that the Dutch word "koekje" was Anglicized to "cookie" when brought over to America. So there's that.

What I want to know is the origin of words themselves. Such as those Latin words, where did those come from.

Close, but no cigar: Term used when one gets close to accomplishing a goal but falls short of their goal.

In the 19th century, cigars were used as a prize for stands at fairs and carnivals. This phrase would be said if someone failed to win a prize.

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Waluigi translates to "bad luigi"