Etymology

I made an unusual error yesterday - I set homework for the Year 8s when I didn't know the answers. At this level, it's almost embarrassing - surely I should know more than thirteen year olds! But it's a new unit exploring the origins of language, specifically looking at Old English definitions. So I have spent this evening at www.etymonline.com doing some research. Some of the more interesting things I have learnt include:

* Thrill originally meant to pierce
* Spider originally meant to spin
* Silly originally meant blessed

I have also discovered that rare was a term originally used to describe undercooked eggs and was not used to describe meat for another century or two. And a tadpole was so named because it was considered to look like a toad head.

It's quite fascinating to see how language evolves and changes over the years. At least, I'm finding it interesting - the Year 8s are not so impressed! However, I did make them invent some words of their own last week and I was amused to hear them still giggling about them this week. Perhaps that's why language continues to develop - it's so much fun to play with sounds and meaning!