Example 1: "De nada" in Spanish directly translated means "of nothing", and is used "thank you." I feel this has a deeper meaning in that it's like saying, "it was of no expense to me to do a favor for you."
Example 2: "M'ish abel" in Mayan means "how are your ways" and is as "hello" or "how are you." The deeper meaning here is that it's a more profound way of relating to another person.
Example 3: "You're welcome." The phrase to me means, "you're welcome to ask the same of me again because it was a pleasure helping you.
I think that it's very interesting how a phrase can be diluted to the point where we don't even consider what it means. Kind of like how we throw out "how are you" and don't really mean it.
Similarly, "goodbye" was (I believe) originally a contraction of "God be with ye".
It came surprising to me that, in many languages, there is no special term for "Why". In Chinese, "why" is "为什么". "为" means "for", and "什么" means "what". In French, "why" is "pourquoi", a combination of "pour" and "quoi" meaning "for what". We use "why" so often, and I'd never before thought that "why" can be expressed as "for what".
Yeah, that's the same in Spanish. "why" is "por que" which translates to "why for?" It's very interesting and I'm curious as to how it evolved to "why" for us.
According to Wikitionary, "From Middle English, from Old English hwȳ, hwī (“why”, instrumental case of hwæt (“what”), literally “by what, for what”), from Proto-Germanic hwī (“by what, how”), from Proto-Indo-European kʷey, locative of *kʷís (“who”)." So, there's a unique word for "why" because there is.
I've always thought the life of a word is so interesting. It's insane to think of what had changed over time to cause such a universal change. I'm going to start saying "for what" instead of "why" now. New Year's Resolution.
"אחריות" in Hebrew means responsibility. But if you break down each letter, and go in order from right to left you get some really cool ideas about the importance of the word. First off, it starts with "א" the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Next you have "אח" which means brother, as in be mindful of your brothers and be responsible for them. The next one is "אחר" which is different/other, so be responsible for your other brothers, those that might be different from you. "אחרי" means after, with a little bit different of a stress when pronouncing. The next one is "אחריו" meaning followed by, and we end with the finished word and also the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, "ת". We begin and end with the beginning and the ending. When we use a word like this, it is no light idea. We are speaking of our brothers/sisters, of others that differ from us that may follow us or we may follow them. I learned this from my good friend and guide when I was visiting my home 2 years back. The Hebrew language has many of these interesting quirks and is actually full of meaning in each word.
Wow, that's really beautiful. And where Hebrew is spoken, are the people aware of the beauty they're speaking? Or is it just "responsible" and that's it?
Well, my mother is a teacher of the Hebrew language and I somehow was always interested in etymology, so I think I am more aware of certain significances in some words. Many names in the Hebrew language are symbolic (much like the old testament, and artistic culture of Israel/Hebrew world). Another example that isn't as in depth as the one I gave above would be "אברהם" or Abraham. We know this is the first father of Judaism, but simply in that name there is the words father/parent, feathers on a bird for flight, and organ/limb when broken down in a similar fashion that I have done above. So I guess you could say this is throughout the language for words that are more traditional and not seen in modern, slang words introduced from America and Arabic culture/language. I don't know if everyone is as attuned to the language's beauty as myself or my mother, as I did not learn or grow up in Israel (obviously the major Hebrew speaking nation), but I'm sure if you look closely enough you can see it (similar in fashion to learning latin roots and seeing it in words that you already know and can apply).
That's not something I think I've ever thought about. That those who immerse themselves in the history of words probably have a much greater appreciation and fascination with words than most.
This exists in Hebrew as well. The word for "hello", "שלום", also means "peace". "You're welcome" is "על לא דבר" which, like the examples above, means "for nothing", implying much the same. One of the words for "goodbye", "להתראות", means "for meeting again", similar to "see you" in English. This seems to be shared by both eastern and western languages by what we've seen so far. I wonder if some more esoteric languages have constructs similar to these. I don't want to jump to conclusions, and my knowledge of the subject is far from expert, but the impression I'm getting is that this is someting innate in human language.
Huh, that's interesting to use "peace" as a greeting. Every time I've used it it's always been as a farewell. You might be onto something there. I too don't claim to be an expert, but but if over time, these phrases began to resemble one another by demand. In order for tribes of people with a specific type of good to trade, they had to communicate in some sort of way, right? Again, no expert, just thinking about interesting possibilities.
When I hear someone say "Evolution is just a theory" it translates to "Despite not having a grasp of the most basic scientific methodology or vocabulary I am going to dismiss the work of thousands of scientists who have, over the course of a century, experimentally verified the theory with an unprecedented amount of emperical evidence."
Testimony is a reference to holding ones genitalia during oaths.
Is it really? Do you know any more if that story?
Not really both come from the Latin word testis meaning a witness.
It literally means a third person standing beside . i.e. an impartial observer the male gonands most likely got the name because they are a witness to virility or manhood. or because they side beside each other.
I think it's interesting how in older times such common phrases/words came from the personification of such things as a penis.
not a penis just balls ;) although I am pretty sure pencil has the same root as penis
Haha, alright then. They're spelling is strangely similar...
but not pen because that is the pen feather of a bird. in Latin penis means tail.
So men have a forward facing tail. I think I just gained a nickname for my member.