English

An Irish type of English

Niall O'Donnell 8 Comments

It might surprise some people to notice how common the surname English is in Ireland.  But there is a logic to it. The surname, in a variety of forms, was actually quite common around different areas of the modern-day United Kingdom, being recorded as far back as the 12th century. With the variety of different tribes and ethnic groups in these islands, and Europe in general, the name English was given to someone to denote that they were of Anglo-Saxon origin, particularly in border regions where lots of mingling would be expected.

The more common surname Walsh has a similar history. This may be less surprising when one considers how it’s still often pronounced in the west of Ireland: Welsh. And of course there’s Scott too!

Another surname with a seemingly similar origin is Ffrench. Yes, there are two f‘s, that’s not a typo. It’s not so common, but is to be found around my hometown of Galway, being the name of one of the 14 historically powerful and wealthy families of the city, who were known as The Tribes of Galway. At first I assumed it simply meant, well, French. Given the extent to which Norman culture influenced Ireland after the invasion of 1169, it wouldn’t be surprising. That influence is still evident in many Irish names. Burke comes from the Irish De Búrca, which in turn comes from the Norman De Burgo. Any name with Fitz is of Norman origin, with the prefix meaning son of. So Fitzgerald, for example means son of Gerald. And yet, while Ffrench is French in origin, it doesn’t actually mean French. It comes from the old Norman Irish name Defraine, which has been anglicised in many forms such as Frayne, Freyne, Freeney, French, and Ffrench. Defraine originally comes from the French word Frêne, meaning place with ash trees.

I love how surnames developed simply as a means to give us information about someone, like what their job was or where they were from. In your country and language, do people have surnames which come from nearby nationalities?

Punctual to a Point

Niall O'Donnell 5 Comments

While thinking about the word punctuation today (which is the kind of thing I do), I considered how similar the word punctuality is to it. I wondered what the link could be. It seemed to me that the concept they share is exactitude. Punctuation allows one to be precise in their meaning in a sentence, and if one is extremely punctual, one allows arrive at the exact moment one should.

And unsurprisingly, both come from the same root word: punctus, the Latin word for point. Which makes a lot of sense. Punctuality, though is an interesting concept. Of course it’s a positive one that we value, overall. We hate if our friends are late when meeting up (if we’re normal).  But do we ever admire it? Like the person who never misses a day off work through sickness, are we really impressed by someone who’s never late? Or does it annoy us? Do we think they’re too perfect, too punctilious? I think is why punctuality is often invoked as a kind of back-handed compliment in that great bastion of reading-between-the-lines: the job reference. Continue reading →

The Heat is on

Niall O'Donnell 4 Comments

It’s that time again, as every four years we’re glued to the TV to watch the Olympics. I always loved it, especially the track and field events. But one word that I’ve always found a little strange is: heat. As in, a qualifying race for a final. Where does it come from?

It seems that the word was first recorded with this meaning in the 17th century, then being used to refer to a run to prepare a horse for a race. Or warm it up, if you will.

For a lot of the more elite athletes, it pretty much has the same meaning: to warm up, generate some heat, for the final.

I hope you’re all enjoying the Olympics: I’ll be spending most of time trying to figure out the name of the exact shade of green the diving pool has turned.

Waxing Lyrical

Niall O'Donnell 13 Comments

A lot of pop songs tend to wash over us and we don’t really pay attention to the lyrics: I mean, they’re usually not important with pop music anyway, are they!?

It’s interesting to really listen to some songs though, as there’s some strange stuff hidden in there. For example:

If it still seems harmless, let’s have a look at the lyrics: Continue reading →

The Country that’s also an Acronym

Niall O'Donnell 5 Comments

An acronym is a word formed whereby each letter represents the first letter(s) of a word. For example:

radar (radio detection and ranging)

laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation)

and… Pakistan. You might not expect the name of a country to be an acronym, but such is the case with Pakistan. While the name means Land of the Pure in Urdu and Persian, it was first coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali, a Pakistan Movement activist advocating for the creation of an independent state from India’s Muslim-majority regions.

The name was derived from the names of the five northern regions of the British Raj: Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh, and Baluchistan. The i was added for ease of pronunciation. Sometimes there’s an interesting history behind a name of a place we don’t think too much about, and it can tell us a lot about a country.

Goodbye Norma Jean

Niall O'Donnell 1 Comment

Norma Jean Baker, Robert Zimmerman, Reginald Dwight.

or…

Marilyn Monroe, Bob Dylan, and Elton John.

You probably know them better by those names. Many famous artists have chosen to operate under stage names. What makes someone decide to change the name their parents gave them?

Sometimes there’s a fairly understandable logic to it. Fred Astaire’s mother apparently felt that their surname Austerlitz was too reminiscent of The Battle of Austerlitz from the Napoleonic Wars, and didn’t want people to think of such violence when they saw her son (who was already demonstrating great talent at a young age) perform. One always can’t help but wonder if she thought a less “European”-sounding name might make him more popular.

William Henry Pratt is not a name to strike fear into many hearts. But Boris Karloff? Much more menacing and mysterious, appropriately so, for the man who played Frankenstein’s monster and The Mummy, among other horror characters. And in contrast to Fred Astaire’s change, here there was probably a deliberate attempt to sound more more exotic and enigmatic, vaguely Eastern European or Russian.

But in other cases, the stage name is just, well, more showbiz. Few people would argue that Marilyn Monroe sounds more glamorous than Norma Jean Baker. There’s nothing wrong with Norma Jean of course, but there’s something much more seductive about those liquid l’s and r’s, than the more workaday Norma Jean Baker. Also, her name probably makes you think of bakers, and though there’s nothing wrong with bakers, all that flour and those puffy white hats aren’t particularly sexy. Elton John and Bob Dylan both trip off the tongue than Reginald Dwight (still the only case I know of of Dwight being a surname) and Robert Zimmerman.

It’s funny though, that on Candle in the Wind, probably the best-known song on Elton John’s 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, refers to Marilyn Monroe as Norma Jean, ostensibly as a mark of respect to her. While the lyrics, like all of Elton John’s songs, were written by Bernie Taupin (real name), I wonder how he felt when he first read them, and if it made him think of any similarities to his own situation, and maybe if in the future someone will write a tribute to Reginald Dwight. At least it’s pretty easy to rhyme with.

Is Good Grammar Necessary?

Niall O'Donnell 47 Comments

This is a question that always sparks debate, and we probably all know people whose views fall on opposite sides of this debate. Some are sticklers for grammar, pouncing on any tiny error with relish. Others put less thought into how they use language and make errors without regard to how well they’re understood. And most people fall somewhere in between these two extremes. If you’ve ever been concerned about whether you have good grammar or not, then let me reassure you that your grammar is almost definitely much better than you think. Such is usually the case for most people in terms of their native language. But to know exactly what we mean by having good grammar, first we need to look at what grammar is.

What is grammar? Continue reading →