The cool stories behind our names for traditional trades
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- Опубліковано 10 чер 2024
- Let's look at the origins of the words for traditional trades: the butcher, the baker, the cobbler maker and beyond! And remember to head to squarespace.com/robwords to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code robwords.
Find out:
🔪 Which animal a BUTCHER is named after
🥖 The surprising old name for a lady BAKER
🕯️ How candles are linked with candidates
🔨 What CARPENTERS originally made
👞 Why COBBLERS are associated with nonsense
🌍 Which country copper is named after
...and lots more!
As well as the three fellas from the nursery rhyme, we also look at the origins of cobbler, carpenter and blacksmith. And I get interrupted by a cat.
#etymology #words #english
==
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==CHAPTERS==
0:00 Introduction
1:09 Origins of "trade" and "profession"
2:11 BUTCHER
3:18 BAKER: baxter, brown & white bread
5:17 SQUARESPACE
6:10 CANDLESTICK MAKER: candle, candid, candidate
7:46 BLACKSMITH: origin, whitesmith, coppersmith, copper, poet
9:27 COBBLER: talking cobblers, cobbler dessert
11:08 Cat interruption
11:45 CARPENTER: origin, real meaning, Zimmermann
13:23 Goodbye - Розваги
*CandLestick 😉
Can I suggest Plumber for one of the future vids? Meaning something along the lines of someone who works with lead (which pipes used to be made out of)
More catto plz
I was thinking about cobbler. Could it have been one of those words that's inspired by a sound? I can imagine that a cobbler hammering on shoes will make a sound that resembles cobblecobblecobblecobble and the neighbours going "Oh no, the cobbler is working again"
If they ever find an old text saying "If that cobbler is going to cobble one more time, then I'm going to cobble his head in" then you know I'm right ;)
@@DutchObserver I like this theory
I remembered the explanation you gave on black and white This was amazing What about cobble stones I thought they used a tool to stretch the leather Great spooky interlude🐈😀👍
The part with the cat was unexpected and hilarious! 😹 The non-cat content was fantastic as well.
I was sort of hoping the cat would pounce and scare Rob out of his chair. But...no luck! 🤣
@@musingwithreba9667 It did the domestic cat equivalent of a roar and considered attacking. Then couldn't be bothered and went to look for food. Standard for a British cat ;)
@@Chris.Strange 🤣🤣
That cat looked just like my cat!
Reminded me of a humor thing called "Cats who are plotting to kill you". Funny pictures ad videos can be found about it.
I am a German native speaker and didn't know that "Zimmermann" actually means "timber man" and not "room man". Thanks for clarifying that so that I can learn something about my own language, too XD
The word zimmer as room also should have come from the word timber thus having mutual origin.
As for centuries there were only wooden houses for the normal people (only churches and castles were made of stones) , Bauholz, Holzbau, Wohnung, Wohnraum’ was zimber, zimmer.
There is even a german verb zimmern (Er zimmerte etwas zusammen.), which means to timber.
German actually uses Zimmermann more specific for woodwork in roofs and walls (like logs) and Schreiner as in furniture. But I guess they are not sharply differentiated.
I bet if you asked 100 random Germans to translate Zimmerman directly to English, you'd get 100 people saying "Room man" 😅
My Irish ancestors were often referred to as Cobblers, but were actually Cordswains, or makers of NEW shoes. A cobbler repaired shoes, or you might say, cobble them back together.
Thats a good point
Cobbler did shoe repair.
@@davedahowell8694Indeed. The trade of cordwainer come from the Spanish word for leather which escapes me just now - ! 😅
Just a note about the whitesmith: initially they worked with tin or pewter. During the industrial revolution, the word came to mean one who finishes metal items by processes such as forging, filing or finishing on a lathe. Workers in silver and gold were designated silversmiths and goldsmiths respectively.
Excellent knowledge, thank you!
And from a fan of smiths, no less!
Several of my ancestors were whitesmiths.
God loves you all! The Father sent the Son to die for you and your sins so that you could experience freedom to the fullest! Believe in Christ's death and resurrection (which sealed the work done on the cross) for your salvation and the forgiveness of sins! Amen! God loves you all! The Father sent the Son to die for you and your sins so that you could experience freedom to the fullest! Believe in Christ's death and resurrection (which sealed the work done on the cross) for your salvation and the forgiveness of sins! Amen!
@@RobWords In Nova Scotia, I've heard the term Whitesmith, and Silversmith used interchangeably. Mind you, that was decades ago. I also chuckled at 'wordsmith', because that is still used here (and some other parts of Canada) to refer to songwriters and poets. Gordon Lightfoot (Canadian singer/writer) is/was often referred to as the 'best wordsmith Canada has produced'.
On an aside, I've watch many of your clips, but was surprised when I saw you do an interview for DW, with an American Economist. It was a fantastic interview. You have great skills in your questions, and knowing when to let your interviewee run with their answers. Kudos. 👍🙂
Right up to the 18th Century the Spanish conquistadors called platinum "white metal" and considered it worthless.
In Dutch we have the word "timmerman" which is analogous to the German "Zimmermann". However we also have the verb "timmeren" which is the action of connecting two pieces of wood together with hammer and nails. From this we created the lovely expression "iemand in mekaar timmeren" (lit. To hammer someone together) which means beating someone up
In the Finnish language are three words meaning carpenter: Kirvesmies (axe man), puuseppä (wood smith) and timpuri (timmerman / Zimmermann).
Oddly enough, that means you could translate timmeren/zimmern with cobbling again...
zimmern That's probably what the timber (Bauholz) meant.
Zimmermann Someone who makes a wooden room.
Zimmer the room itself.
'Op zijn gezicht timmeren'
In Danish
tømrer = someone doing the coarse work with wood, also called træsmed (woodsmith)
at tømre = working with wood
at tømre sammen = cobbling together
tømmer = timber, lumber
tømrer, Zimmerer, timber share the same origin, I guess.
Someone doing the finer woodwork such as furniture is called snedker.
fun fact: tømmermand = hangover
My husband happened to start listening to this video towards the end and was so excited by your talk about carpenters that he made me back up the video so that he could start at the beginning of your explanation about carpenters. He’s now hooked. Who knew that he finds etymology as interesting as I do? I’m a big fan of yours because you love the history of words as much as I do. Your videos never disappoint.
It's lovely to have you both on board!
Etymology of names are always fun to look up. Banker is my favorite. I feel sorry for anyone thinking they had a rich ancestor who was a "banker". Oof :P
I love the history of words, as well! Such fun to find so entertaining and insightful a site! 😊
@@tauriusmagnamus3281 what does it mean? Anything to do with rivers (I ask because of river banks). Also your name means the “great bull”, yes?
@@drakesmith471 It's a person who digs banks on the side of roads. Basically a ditch digger. And yes, Mighy/great/magical bull.
I'm an enthusiastic baker and I can attest that the bakers conflict between the more brownish bread vs the whiter sweeter bread is still very present to these days. It's a wonderful story 6000 years in the making, and still going strong.
I loved your video and many thanks for your amazing work ❤ sending regards from sunny Portugal 🇵🇹
Buenos Dias, amigo mio
Where can I read about the dark vs light bread wars??!!
I've always enjoyed the word "cob", which I understand to be an old Anglo word for any item that fits in one's hand. Whether a corn cob, a cobble stone, or a cob wall, made of hand sized globs of sand/clay/straw woven together.
And, along the same lines, what they call a 'bread roll' in the south of England, we call a 'cob' in the east midlands.
We call it a Cob in the Black Country too
Hand sized globs of sand/clay/straw which we might call a "mud pie" here in the US. Which brings us back around to its flour based roots.
Interesting, so where does a horse being called, “a cob” fit in?
@@karphin1 well, I don't actually know, but if we think of a cob as being what we might call a "block" today, like a block of wood then maybe it referred to a "blocky" shaped horse. Stout and square-ish. Just guessing. Do you know what the connotation is when a horse is called a cob?
Ha! Love the cat’s bored yawn. You can see him/her thinking: “There’s Rob talking cobbler’s awls again!”
I imagine they think with a proper yorkshire accent
You are undoubtedly a “wordsmith” 😊
A wordwright.
@@DJHansYolo 😁
@@DJHansYolo Why not? We have playwrights, after all.
Thank you for saying this so I didn't have to...
@@DJHansYolo
The greatest Wordsmith/Wordswrite/wright was Wordsworth.
Hi, as usual things gets more complicated in German. When it comes to woodworking there are two main distinctions, the "Zimmermann" and the "Tischler" (also called "Schreiner" or "Kistner"). The Zimmermann generally build houses and the Tischler build furniture, doors, windows. Historically a Zimmermann had no own place to work, he worked only on the building site, whereas the Tischler had his workshop. The Tischler was allowed to work on cleaner finishes and use a "Hobel" (a plane), where as a Zimmermann wasn't allowed to use a plane (not the flying thing, but the tool for shaving wood). The old signs for the guilds where: for the "Zimmermann", a special saw to bring trees into usable timber, two special axes (broadaxe and axe) and a circle, where as the "Tischler" has the plane, the square and the circle.
And what I like to mention: it is always a pleasure to listen to your explanations! Thank you.
In England, I think that a Zimmermann would be a carpenter (or chippie/chippy in the vernacular), while a Tischler would be a cabinet-maker.
There's a shop near my place called *"The Hot Baxter"* and they sell all kinds of cakes, bread etc. And it's owned by a middle aged lady and her daughters. The name of the shop makes sense now 😅
It has always made sense. You just didn't know meanings of words.
It cannot be overstated just how much I love this stuff. Etymology is my drug of choice.
Etymology. Not even once! 💉
Just say No!
No from Old English na, from ne "not, no" + a "ever." The first element is from Proto-Germanic *ne (source also of Old Norse, Old Frisian, Old High German ne, Gothic ni "not"), from PIE root *ne- "not." Second element is from Proto-Germanic *aiwi-, extended form of PIE root *aiw- "vital force, life, long life, eternity." Ultimately identical to nay, and the differences of use are accidental.
Probably doesn’t taste too bad. Better than entomology.
Rob, maybe you could mention "Cordwainer". I came across this trade when I was transcribing old parish records. I assumed it was someone who made ropes (well it made sense to me!). Apparently it means a shoemaker who makes new shoes from new leather, as opposed to a cobbler who makes shoes from old leather (or repairs, or cobbles, shoes). There are two different guilds for the two different trades
It's new to me! I'll give it a look
@@topherthe11th23 Spain is noted for the quality of its leather. At least one Spanish fashion house came into being this way, going from utility to luxury.
Cordoba, of course, is a Spanish city in a horsey region where strong leather would be needed for saddles and tack.
Cordwainer is a person who works with cordwain, a high quality equine leather for high end shoes, named after the city of Córdoba/Cordova
@@topherthe11th23 The term "Corinthian leather" is an invention of an advertising company for Chrysler. Chrysler Cordoba was presented as a luxury car. A colleague used to drive it. I think it was one of the more repulsive cars of the era. More details at Wikipedia + the term.
I wonder if this relates back to Courvoisier (like the liquor)
We had a man around here who made all sorts of woodworking projects in his retirement (I only knew him as olderly person) and he was officially a "Wagner" - which is what "carriagemaker" would be in German. The profession isn't common at all now, but when he was young it was aparently still around and going by that name. Also a common surname in German speaking countries, not only musicians ;)
In English we have the surnames Cartwright and Wainwright, which are more or less the same profession.
The Old English word "treowwyrhta" seems like the Norwegian word "trevirke". Which means "a piece of wood that can be used to make stuff from". Or basically it means "lumber".
An American slang name for someone who makes simple or primitive wood furniture is a "tree butcher"
@@ulexite-tv Well, if you're going to bring slang into it, "Dust-maker" is a frequently popular term for any wood worker or carpenter in America, at least in the Southeast... ;o)
Rob, your linguistic expertise "cobbled"with your humor make fascinating lessons. Thank you for making learning fun.
Regarding the "-ster" suffix: in my etymological hobby I've run into a couple of ancestors who were listed on the census as "spinster". I found out that a spinster was a woman who spun thread for a living. It appears that was one of the few professions an older, unmarried woman could be expected to do at the time.
And now I'm wondering what a "hamster" does for a living? 😁
@@d00dEEE She cures pork, of course.
Were they listed in the census as "spinster" because they made thread or because they were unmarried? I would have imagined it was the latter
@@minuteman4199 It was listed under employment. There was a box to list marital status with a single-letter code.
@@MichaelDeBusk Interesting. I have seen my grand parents marriage certificate and as I recall it listed them as bachelor and spinster at the time of their wedding - I suppose other options would have been widow and widower. Unfortunately I haven't got access to it or I would dig it out. My grandmother worked in a cotton mill, but as a "box tenter", not a spinster.
My grandfather (who died before I was born) was a shoemaker. My dad was emphatic that the family considered the word “cobbler” a slur, indicative of someone who was unprofessional and did inferior work.
"shoemaker" = in german Michael "Schumacher" ... Languages are so amazing!
Funny that this week our local woodsmith who normally works on fine furniture, is rebuilding a carriage from scratch. I can't wait to tell him that he has finally returned to his etymological roots.
That twist at the end with your stalker pet got me lmao crying x'D
As always, it's a real pleasure to discover a bit more of our languages with you Rob, good luck with the news o7
Funny fact: in Italian a ‘carpentiere’ is a generic builder, a bricklayer. I first met the English term when I was playing Ultima Online and I kept training carpentry thinking at some point I would get the stone and bricks to build one of the player houses, being unaware of the fact it only allowed working wood 😝
In linguistics I believe the phenomenon is known as "false friends" sort of like the drastic difference between the meaning of "gift" in English vs. German.
I'm not a carpenter, though I have known one and I am not certain, but I think it generally refers to people who build houses and so do a lot more than wood work. So, while a video game might restrict it in that way, I think people with that title might very well work with bricks in the U.S. anyway.
Funny story! Hey, how's the new fascist government going in Italy? Didn't learn from Moussolini?
@@NickRoman no. Carpentry is wood. Masonry is bricks/stone.
@@gaywizard2000 it’s actually going really good, thanks for asking
Every word has a story, and I love how even the most simple ones like "the" or "and" are sometimes the most interesting! Thanks for continuing to tell stories about the things we all take for granted!
Oh the absolute joy these little videos bring me!! Just fascinated by the detail and history of words we so often use. Thank you Rob
Thanks for watching
Growing up in the American South I was taught that to cobble something meant to throw it together quickly with whatever you had on hand. This distinguished a cobbler from a pie as the pie requires more effort to make. You might use scrap boards to cobble together something to protect your lawn mower from the rain until you could build a proper shed. Nice kitty, BTW.
We use it in the same way in the U.K.
In Canada we'd use hobble where use you cobble. You could hobble something together from scraps.
@@Jordan-pf9ws in the UK, hobble means to struggle to walk with a limp.
@@Jordan-pf9ws I've lived in Canada, Ontario specifically, all my life and never heard hobble used that way. Where I'm from it would be cobble. There must be regional variations! What part of Canada are you from?
The South ? do you have Caballeros there, like the Cowboys in the West ?
Alternative names for some metals in Japanese:
鉄 _kurogane_ "black metal" = iron
銀 _shirogane_ "white metal" = silver
銅 _akagane_ "red metal" = copper
黄金 _kogane_ "yellow metal" = gold
While pronounced differently, *rust* is written by combining 金 "metal" and 青 "blue/green" to 錆 _sabi_
Kira kira koganetama kin'yobi! (Koganeyobi?)
In German we have words for white gold, yellow gold and red gold. Different metal mixes, but all mainly gold used in jewelry. That should be fun to reproduce in Japanese... shirokogane!
So did they not use iron as main metal? As oxidated iron is of red/brown colour, while copper makes a green/blue tone.
Or is there an other reason for hving blue/green in the word for rust?
@@aramisortsbottcher8201 Like most Chinese characters, only the "metal" part conveys meaning. The "blue" part originally indicated how to pronounce it (in old Chinese). So basically it means: something about metal that sounds like blue. 😛
Interesting that the metal is called shirogane, but the colour is a completely different word; "gin"
Finnish language has also a word ’runoseppo’ which is a poem (runo) smith (seppä or seppo).
Our cat looks very much like yours.
Love your channel!
There's a phrase I often heard when I worked back in England. That something was a "cobble up" or was "cobbled together". Meaning a solution was found using parts or methods that weren't really suitable. But probably conveniently to hand.
Zimmer does mean timber in German, as most "rooms" back in the day was timber cabins so calling them zimmer is the natural way
Chamber, kammer, even kamera camera have same roots with slowly changing meaning in time.
Loved the furbaby interruption, LOL! Thanks for leaving it in! And these names are fascinating - I'd absolutely enjoy more. ❤️ 😁👍🏼
Very happy to see your subscribers growing. Very well deserved, fascinating stuff, engagingly presented.
You always offer such fascinating, in depth and thorough videos. I learn more from 15 minutes with you than I would in months of researching it. I'm always excited to see your next entry and am especially so about your next video about trade names.
Thanks Linda!
Congrats on the ad! It’s always good to see channels being valued by the business and not only by the viewers 😊
I kind of like the word 'baxter' and I wish we still used it, commonly today. I like gender separated words. Like how we still have 'actor' and 'actress', 'waiter' and 'waitress', 'policeman' and 'policewoman', etc. I like these words. We need to keep them around, so let's not get rid of them. They are perfectly good words. Be proud of them.
When I executed my mom’s will, I always referred to myself as _executrix_ because I like old words.
Rob: *puts hours of work into a fun video about the origins of common professions*
Me: CATCATCATCATCAT
We also say "etwas zimmern" or "etwas zusammenzimmern" which means to assemble something, or out something(s) together to create something. Usually we associate wooden planks, a hammer and nails with it, and envision some resemblance of a box, chest, dog hut, or little cabin.
Great stuff Rob. I've always been interested in words since being force-taught Latin at school in the 60's. I found that once you understand the roots of language then crosswords and so much more becomes easier. Understanding language, rather than just using it, is a blessing. Keep up your good work.
Learning multiple languages is the default in most of the world; it’s mostly English speakers who only speak one language.
This is the best use of knowing etymology. The volumes of paperbacks I read as a teenager were always filled with words I did not yet know, but roots and such were enough to speed through.
I also benefitted from learning Latin at school. Ten years ago I ran an after school Latin club at our local village school. Smart boards and cartoons made it a lot of fun.
@@ragnkja
I knew that one about “baxter”; thanks for the shoutout! 😉 it’s also a very old minor Scottish clan and has an officially recognised historical tartan pattern.
I love the meaning of words and always wanted a class that taught exactly what you are explaining.
Love your tuxedo (cat).❤️ From a former animal shelter director
Cypriot here! I believe that the word "cyprus " from copper and not the other way round. for the exact same reason, because we were known for copper
The Romans mined copper in Llandudno. Extensive mines have been recently found there from the Bronze Age. I wonder if the Roman place name for the area indicates this at all.
@@Lily-Bravo Llandudno means "parish of Saint Tudno". In the insular celtic languages, "Llan", "Lann" or "Lan" is a parish, church or monastery. See for instance Landivisio in Brittany, which is the parish of Saint Gwisiau.
I have found a UA-cam channel created by a person who can use the phrase “this is the sort of etymology I live for” as wholeheartedly and candidly 😉 as I can. Loving it. Special shout out to the seamless links, liberally sprinkled with puns. I’m here for it. I’m here for bloomin’ all of it, and that ain’t cobblers.
Love your channel, Rob (and love that old range behind you)!
I first became interested in (and later obsessed with) etymology 60+ years ago, when I was age 11.
A friend played me his recording (a multi-disc set of 78RPM vinyl) of My Fair Lady. I was so taken by it that I found and read the 'original', i.e. Pygmalion. I later studied Linguistics at uni, where I fully indulged my love of language, and particularly etymology.
Over various jobs I've been an editor, proofreader (i.e. grammar nazi - lol), have compiled publishing-house and university style guides, and assembled specialist lexicons for various purposes.
Mine has been a life of words, for which credit must go to Mater, who had me reading at the level of a nine-year-old before I commenced schooling at age five.
Keep up this great channel!
A "life of words" sounds like an ideal life to me.
Thanks for the encouragement and I shall pass your comments re: the range to my parents back in England!
I'm very glad you covered black smith. I never knew for certain but I guessed that at some point, precious metal smith's had to be called white smith's. That's great. Thank you.
You forgot Webster, a female weaver, and Spinster, a female spinner.
And sister, a female, er...
Kind of surprised you didn’t cover anything about wainwrights or wheelwrights on the carpenter segment. Now I’ve got some of my own research to do. Great video!
add 'Cooper' too.
He said he'll probably be doing more of these.
Also add Cartwright
"Bock" in German is also used for the stag and the male deer "Rehbock" (en. roebuck). So a butcher might have been dealing in venison.
Kitty! I love how you edited the cat part. I honestly wouldn't have heard anything you said anyway while the cat was on the screen! 😹
The rest of the video was very interesting & enjoyable too. I enjoy your research & your delivery. This has become one of my favorite channels!
Love the cat as well 😂😂😂
A male goat is called a "Bock" in German. Nice one.
And another word related to "candle" is surely "to kindle", isn't it?
And the best is when we German speakers say "Ich habe kein BOCK" ("I´ve no male goat") to denote unmotivated or feeling just fed up.
Your channel is one of my favourite, it is always interesting to see where the different words come from. Even if I am not studying languages, I am still fascinated by this kind of things. I discovered your channel with the video about the similarities with french words (school/école, squirrel/écureuil), and as a french person, it was also really interesting. Keep up the good work!
As for Zimmermann aka carpenter, in Norwegian we have the word "tømrer", which comes from the word "tømmer", which means "timber". So "tømrer" basically means "timberer". That is, someone who works with timber.
So a "timberer" is someone who works with bigger pieces of wood. That is, someone who build houses from wood. We also have the word "snekker", which is someone who works with smaller pieces of wood, and more intricate. Like making doors, tables, cupboards, and so on.
Dear Rob -May you live long and prosper while making a lot of episodes like this :))
"...The crew was complete: it included a Boots-
A maker of Bonnets and Hoods-
A Barrister, brought to arrange their disputes-
And a Broker, to value their goods.
A Billiard-marker, whose skill was immense,
Might perhaps have won more than his share-
But a Banker, engaged at enormous expense,
Had the whole of their cash in his care.
There was also a Beaver, that paced on the deck,
Or would sit making lace in the bow:
And had often (the Bellman said) saved them from wreck,
Though none of the sailors knew how..."
From The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carrol.
Apropos Lewis Carroll. Can anybody understand this Jabberwocky poem, apart from kids, which are necessarily more flexible in hearing as they lack many words and concepts anyway? I couldn't, without annotations that is.
Bankers ; that was something to do with river banks, or is that a red herring?
Thanks for the awesome content! An etymology request here: I have always wondered why in most European languages (at least the ones I know a bit) the words for "right" (as in "right hand") seem to have a common ancestor (German: rechts, English: right, French: droite, Italian: destra, Spanish: derecha), while the words for "left" in these languages seem completely unrelated (links, left, gauche, sinistra, izquierda), except maybe the German and English versions. Any idea?
Why do you think the dextrous words look related? The Germanic rechts and right both start with R, while the Romance words all start with D. Inversely for the sinister words, why would you doubt the Germanic links and left are obviously related? Only "gauche" seems out of place to me.
@@KarlSmith1 The dextrous words are indeed all related and come from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵtós. So you get Proto-Germanic *rehtaz (right, rechts,...) and Latin rectus/di-rectus (dreit, droite, destra,...).
@@chromaticAberration Interesting. Thanks.
Spanish for "left" is borrowed from Basque.
This reminds me that the words for "boy" and "girl" seem all over the place in IE languages.
Next you should do "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" to maintain the literary grouping theme.
The poem Hunting of the Snark also has a collection of not so common trades that you could use, as does Canterbury Tales.
This is a great suggestion!
i love how enthustiastic you are about this !! languages are so fascinating to learn
Another fascinating episode Rob! Loved the treowwyrhta / tree wright. A wright was a skilled worker, usually in building or construction such as a ship wright or wheel wright. Would love to know the origins of more of these. Hall's index of old occupations may give some inspiration!
Yea I don't see how "treewright" would've been a "monstrosity". And it is definitely more accurate, too, than "carpenter".
Other "-wright"s missed by Rob were "playwright" and "wainwright" (maker of wagons).
In Scotland up until the 19th century, "wright" was the usual word for a carpenter. Today "joiner" is the common term.
Wainwright is the equivalent of your original Carpenter, with a wain being an old name for a wagon (cf Constable’s “Haywain”)
And Woodwright is an archaic term for a carpenter or a joiner.
It may have become “Cartwright”.
Love these videos. I've always been interested in language. I'd like to suggest some more modern language features which you might be interested in covering. Firstly, there is the use of the word "gate" to imply a scandal. This started, as far as I know, with Watergate, being "shorthand" for the Watergate Hotel political scandal in 1972. Since then we have had, amongst many others, Iran-gate, Diana-gate, and more recently queue-gate from the apparent queue-jumping of a couple of TV personalities during the Queen's lying in state. A similar example is the adaption of the word "alcoholic" to other addictive behaviours, so we have workaholics and chocaholics, which make sense even while arguably being nonsense words. As a wordsmith (another "smith" for you) you may well be able to think of other examples.
Your videos are always so delightful. I thought I was the only person interested in these things, but you’re absolutely giddy explaining them. It’s heartwarming
Loved this episode Rob.. you gotta make part 2 and a part 3… and a part 4….and a…
And a feature length documentary!
Had to watch the cat part three times, too funny!
My daughter works in copper, not so much as a coppersmith, who would be a fabricator, but as a sculptor; and doing a little research in order to help with her website, I was intrigued to discover that copper was our first metal, most easily refined and worked; and yes, the origin is from Cyprus. The bronze age came later, when the soft copper was admixed with tin, to make a material which would hold an edge better; and the iron age follows that.
That part about the cat really cracks me up! The cat-less portion is equally fascinating. I learn so much from your videos! Keep them coming!
In Finnish word for cobbler is "suutari", it comes from Old Swedish word "sutare" from latin "sutor" (cobbler or shoemaker). Sutor is best known for phrase
"Sutor, ne ultra crepidam" ('Shoemaker, not beyond the shoe)
English and German surenames based on sutor is Souter and Schuster.
In Germany a Schuster is someone who makes Schuhe, that is shoes, thus a Schuster is a shoemaker. It is also a common surename for sure.
Sutures are 'stitches' IIRC, mostly used in the surgical sense to sew up wounds.
This was the best episode yet! Great content and surprise cat! I went to school with an Andrew Zimmerman he was always locker partners with my friend who's surname began with Y. Lol
I'm loving your content, Rob! Thanks
Rob, one of my great-grandfathers in Australia was of Irish descent and built wagons. His surname was very Irish (Cregan), but his profession was very Old English... Wainwright. This was a non-Latin version of the word you mentioned, and I understand it dates back to the 6th Century CE. A great video as usual!
That Icelandic example is cool - there is almost exactly the same word in Czech :) Veršotepec - meaning literally verse-smith ("tepec" works with sheet metal only - so basically tinsmith). Didn't know that Czech influenced Icelandic this much :D
I've seen the word "wordsmith" for more general writers.
Doing on video on craft words would be great! Could you include crochet and knitting?
"Crochet" is French for "hook". To hang up a telephone on its hook is to "racrochet".
Hey Rob, I'd like to see a video on idioms and fossil words; words that only get used in English as part of some commonly used phrase, but never appear anywhere else. Like 'beck and call' or 'in fine fettle'.
The cat!! That was incredible and I'm still laughing! Your videos are so interesting. I always wondered what peoples' last names really mean, and how they came to be!
Old French Boc exists today in French as well, but transformed to “Bouc” or “Bouquetin” ( i believe that’s how it’s spelled) which literally means a male goat! Usually for mountain goats though.
I hail from India. At my graduation level, I studied ANCIENT GREEK AND LATIN FOR MY DEEP STUDY OF WORD ORIGINS IN THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH LANGUAGE. FRENCH BEING COMPULSORY AT OUR SCHOOL, I STUDIED FRENCH FOR 13 YEARS.
YOUR VIDEOS FASCINATE ME.
Merci Beaucoup.
I simply love your videos, Rob! Please keep them coming!
As a native German speaker I'm always delighted to see when there's a relation to German, even if you end up only mentioning Dutch or Swedish, I can usually make that last step of deduction myself 😊
Your way of dealing with the cat caused continuity complication was hilarious!
Enjoyed all the video, BUT the cat bit was just hilarious! Looking forward to the next instalment of the traders theme, but also hopefully another appearance of The Cat...who appears to be plotting something 😼
Another enjoyable video! Thank you, Rob. You're really good at this! I enjoy the change of scenery each time. And the cat made me laugh! Thanks again.
I can't believe I missed a months worth of awesome robwords. I rectified my notifications settings to not miss any more but can't lie having 4 of them able to binge at once was kind of fun. Really enjoy your work , Rob!
Rob seems like a great guy to go for a pint with. I look for these videos first thing every day now!
When talking about professing meaning to swear an oath, my favorite etymology is testify, testimony, which means grabbing your testes to swear to tell the truth.
I loved the guest star.
I remember hearing that it wasn't always your own testicles that were to be held to swear an oath, but that of the person to whom you were promising something. Don't know if that's true or not.
@@VictoriaKimball From what I read, it was either way.
I'm surprised you didn't mention "woodwright" when you mentioned "tree wright." Woodwright was another name for carpenter until about the 20th century when it fell out of use, except for The Woodwright's Shop.
What is this wright anyway? When I learned the word playwright, I assumed it has to do with writing. But later I learned shipwright and wrought. Then wheelwright. It seems having to do with work and means something like -maker, right?
@@Eddi.M. Wicktionary suggests that wright and wrought come from the middle english werken, meaning to work.
@@Greblin Thanks for that hint! Now, that's a surprise. Werken (=infinitive form) is modern German and means .... No, usually not work, that would be arbeiten, but in some contexts it does and mostly something very very similar. Maybe to craft gets close to it. Werk is an opus and at the same time a factory (also work in English) and in word compounds the amount of work to be done during a period of time, a work load. Another meaning is construction or contraption, like in Mundwerk (mouth work =pej. for mouth). If I think about it, Werk and werken are very versatile words.
@@Eddi.M. "Arbeiten" is a Slavic loanword. It's related to "robot." In English, the older form of "to work" was "to wreak," with its past tense "wrought" and derived noun "wright." Today, "wreak" only exists in phrases such as "wreak havoc" or "wreak destruction." I always get a laugh out of people who mistakenly say "wreck havoc."
@@Eddi.M. Werken in Dutch means working (Arbeiten). Werk does not mean factory, we have fabriek for that. (DAF: Van Doorne’s Auto Fabriek).
Makes me wonder if "brubaker" wasn't the word for a brown bread baker. That's another moderately well known last name.
When you got to "tree-wright," I expected you to mention wainwright and wagner/waggoner as well. This whole topic is like a rabbit warren -- so much fun!
I have loved your videos since finding the short on the letter thorn. But when you had the top-tier humor to edit for your cat,... I'm now hooked good sir.
Cobbler in the US is a very specific baked treat, like the one pictured to your right during that segment, definitely not all sorts of pies and cakes. If someone ordered apple cobbler and got apple pie, they wouldn’t complain, but they’d be mighty confused!
Love this video and words.
This channel in general and this video in particular are effing brilliant. Facts lad.
Fascinating stuff, Rob.
As someone with an interest in both etymology and vocational surnames, I found this episode very entertaining. :)
Also, treewright is a great term, especially since carpenter is apparently redundant with carter, cartwright, wagoner, and wainwright.
Carter should be the driver of a cart, not the maker. The rest was correct.
@@Ugly_German_Truths: Is that right? Thanks. I'll look into that.
As entertaining and informative as ever, thank you. I don't like the adverts either, but I gladly put up with them as the videos are free.
Dear Rob,
After watching your videos I get particularly enthused and attempt to impart the rather delightful etymological knowledge on my house-mates. Whilst my memory is imperfect; luckily I have an excellent video to refer them to (and I get to watch again). Thus coming full circle.
Thank you for your wonderful content!
"This is the sort of etymology I live for." It's almost like the connections made knowing "candidus" are actually creating connections in my mind, linking these words together with actual neurons, deepening my understanding with context... and yes, it's SO delightful to learn that it all makes sense, that these random sounds convey the same concept in different subtle ways.... It's similar to knowing that birds are descendants of dinosaurs, that their existence makes sense, there's a reason for them to be like they are. How do I really explain it? It makes the ground under your feet feel more firm and stable...
I like Treewright as it connects back to the source of the carpenters materials.
In the UK a derogatory term for a carpenter is a 'tree-spoiler!'
My grandfather was a cooper. I'd love to hear about that.
A barrel maker?
That looks similar to the German word Küfer, which would be a barrel maker.
Yes, he was a barrel maker.
My father and one of his brothers were coopers. They made barrels and (wooden) vats. The vats were, in extreme, as big as houses.
There is a style of fine woodworking construction, using staves to achieve a rounded shape, called coopered construction.
These videos are amazing for its knowledge bombs as well as the strange diversions they take.
You've earned yourself a subscriber!
Watched @RobWords 's english videos and DW news separately for months and just now I realized he's the same person. True Clark Kent moment.
Alongside blacksmiths and whitesmiths you can also find redsmiths which is another name for coppersmiths.
And goldsmiths and silversmiths
Great video! The Zimmermann timberman connection came immediately to my mind. Quite surprising it was to me back when I learned it that our word for room stems from wood (=Holz) somehow. The verb zimmern means still today building a roof, well the wooden frame at least, and is also used as rough or unskilled woodworking, which doesn't do any justice to carpenters, or does it?
Baxter and Brewster were very interesting, indeed.
What is actually the difference between a cobbler and a shoemaker? Does the cobbler just repair soles?
Edit: Finnish knows the word puuseppä, which is the compound of puu (wood, tree) and seppä (smith). So a carpenter is a woodsmith.
Finnish also has the word timpuri, which looks a lot like timber.
Interestingly my german etymology website says, that "smith" on it's own meant "woodworker" at one point.
When i learned english and came across the word „Cobbler“ i immediately thought it was onomatopoetic- it just really made sense to me and i never forgot it because of that. The sound when you hammer on the side of a shoe is just that muffled clonk or a hollow bumm, so cobb seemed perfect!
Please keep making more of these!
I'm fascinated by etymology. Thank you for an awesome channel. Does the study of the origins of surnames fall under etymology?
Surnames come from the need to specify which person with a particular given name you meant, and fall into a few distinct categories: where the person lived, whose son or daughter they were, what they did for a living, what they looked like, or some other notable characteristic they might have (or very obvious _not_ have, in a few cases where they got an ironic name; John Little of the legends of Robin Hood was quite a big and tall man, for example). Note that job-surnames tend to be limited to jobs that only a very small number of people in any one community would have. So John who was a baker and son of Mark might be called John Baker, whereas John who was a tenant farmer and son of Richard was more likely to be called John Richardson, because he was unlikely to be the only farmer caller John in the community.
It is called "onomastic", there is also "toponomastic" for placenames.
Yet as the other one said, many names derive from words, so it kind of is etymology I guess.
@@ragnkja I've often noticed some very unusual surnames, hence my curiosity about modern surnames. At the end of each series or movie I watch I always try to pick out interesting surnames, and wonder how they originated given that the original purpose of surnames was to distinguish people of the same first name from each other - usually based on their profession. So what accounts for these very unusual surnames?
@@aramisortsbottcher8201 Thank you for the info.
@@CitiesForTheFuture2030
Some of them might have been made up on the spot when someone who wasn’t used to needing a surname was forced to use one.