Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with Not Politically Correct. Few will not have heard the phrase "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me." In the modern world of political correctness many words and phrases are considered hurtful in the extreme. Curses and more base language are heard described as 'Anglo-Saxon'. In truth these more than likely began in this Old English language but had quite innocent meanings. Here the origins and original use of the words are examined and analysed to show how these terms began quite innocently. This talk is intended for an adult audience and some may find some parts offensive. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.
Now the most common no-no is the unacceptable terms for those of a different nationality. And why not start with those across the channel, the French. The French have been known as Frogs – and as we all know this is down to the French delicacy of frog’s legs. But it isn’t. And it was coined by the English. But it wasn’t. And it’s a racist comment. But it isn’t. This dates from the 16th or 17th century when the city of Paris had on its coat of arms toads. As with all capital cities the residents and officials thought themselves above the rest of the nation and thus it was originally the rest of France who referred to the Parisians as ‘Frogs’ (when it should have been ‘toads’). This caught on and by the 18th century the Belgians, who did not like the French, were certainly using it and it seems we got it from the Belgians.
British have been called Limies ever since naval men were given a ration of citrus fruit to ward off scurvy. Limes would have been eaten but only because these citrus fruit had a longer shelf life. I’m sure the ratings would have loved to have them replaced by a nice ripe avocado – incidentally the Aztec word ‘avocado’ meant ‘testicle’, as they saw it as an aphrodisiac and thought the fruit resembled the testicle. No wonder they died out. Australians call us Poms or Pommies, apparently they are convinced we dine on pomegranates a lot. Can’t say I’ve ever knowingly eaten a single pomegranate. It is NOT an acronym for Prisoner of Her (or His) Majesty nor is it Permit Of Migration.
Enough of the race words and off to insults. To me this is where political correctness goes completely insane. As we have already shown so-called racial slurs have, for the most part, quite innocent beginnings – now surely to describe someone as ‘bald’, ‘short’, ‘fat’ (all used to describe kings of France named Charles, please note) is simply true. Whilst I accept they shouldn’t be the sole identifying feature, if you have three people named Charles who were all French monarchs, how would you know which one was which without the additional information? So let’s have a look at the origins of some of these words. And we’ll start with ‘fat’. Now clearly any insult is using the word as an adjective, while the word began as a noun. Not so, it began as an adjective, then used as a verb ‘to fatten’ and finally as a noun. The word is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European poid which meant ‘fat, swell, grow’ particularly with milk, fat or water. Now I could be wrong here but I can’t see milk or water ever being insulting and fat in this context is surely a bonus. Thin – is unacceptable while ‘slim’ is a compliment. Now historically this might be more of an insult for it began as ‘stretched out, diluted, lacking body’ – much as we describe gravy, soup or sauce.
If not yet appalled and might want to hear me take the etymologist’s view of these terms, drop me a line. Note the words are not the problem, it’s the usage. If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.
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