Re: most looked-up words
| From: | Ray Brown <ray.brown@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Tuesday, December 7, 2004, 18:47 |
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On Tuesday, December 7, 2004, at 06:43 , Thomas R. Wier wrote:
>> Also, ten points to anyone who can tell me what a 'kudo' is.
>
> _kudo_ [k_hudo/@u] is a backformation from _kudos_ [k_hudo/@uz](pl.),
Ach!!
> which is itself a reanalysis of Greek _kudos_ [ku:dOs] 'glory',
neuter singular. [ku:dOs] was Doric Greek, [ky:dOs] was Attic & Koine, and
['kiDOs] is Byzantine & modern.
> which
> is usually said to originate in British schoolboy slang.
Almost certainly, hence the pronunciation [k_hjud@s] extant here. If it
had come by the 'normal' route via Latin, it would have been *cydus :)
>
> =========================================================================
> =
> Thomas Wier "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
> Dept. of Linguistics because our secret police don't get it right
> University of Chicago half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of
> 1010 E. 59th Street Abu Dhabi, to a French reporter.
> Chicago, IL 60637
>
>
>
Ray
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