Michael’s Reviews > The English Language > Status Update
Michael
is on page 35 of 178
‘They hold that the patriots in language are the victims also of a fallacy which all history disproves—the fallacy, namely, that there is some connexion between the purity of language and the purity of race; that most modern races, however pure their language, are of mixed origins, and that many races speak a tongue borrowed either from their conquerors, or from the peoples they face themselves subdued.’
— Dec 25, 2018 02:14AM
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Michael’s Previous Updates
Michael
is on page 137 of 178
The invention of Prime Minister as a phrase was originally a term of abuse borrowed from despotic governments.
— Jan 01, 2019 02:58AM
Michael
is on page 133 of 178
‘Nation was an early word, but it was used more with the motion of different races than that of national unity, and was indeed commonly employed to describe any class or kind of persons.’
— Dec 31, 2018 05:30PM
Michael
is on page 121 of 178
The origin of ‘premise’ as a term of logic and another name for residences.
— Dec 31, 2018 08:37AM
Michael
is on page 116 of 178
Skipped right over the contribution of Arabic to English here. At least, there's no citation.
— Dec 31, 2018 04:06AM
Michael
is on page 115 of 178
The idea of ‘common sense’ comes from this physiological idea of four humours in balance and contributing to cognition.
— Dec 31, 2018 04:01AM
Michael
is on page 114 of 178
Temperament comes from the Latin word meaning ‘due mixture’ vis-à-vis the four humours.
— Dec 31, 2018 04:00AM
Michael
is on page 113 of 178
Interesting stuff on words related to medieval physiology and medicine.
— Dec 31, 2018 03:55AM
Michael
is on page 112 of 178
The introduction of three names of stones in the 13th and 14th century and their supposed magical qualities. An amethyst, for example, supposedly protects its possessor from intoxication. The word itself suggests it, too. Μέθη in Greek means intoxication; α- is a negating prefix.
— Dec 31, 2018 03:39AM
Michael
is on page 112 of 178
‘the dipsas, whose bite produced a raging thirst’, from the Greek word διψώ to thirst
— Dec 31, 2018 03:33AM
Michael
is on page 87 of 178
Still a beautiful description of old Indo-European words
— Dec 30, 2018 01:34PM
