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Favourite fact from "No Such Thing As A Fish"

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December 29, 2023, 08:33
BobHale
Favourite fact from "No Such Thing As A Fish"
Heard today on the final episode of the year of the No Such Thing As A Fish podcast.

The word "loanword" is a calque and the word "calque" is a loanword.


"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
December 29, 2023, 09:13
BobHale
It does remind me of my favourite trio of English/French/German words

The French dent-de-lion became the English Dandelion : a slightly corrupted loanword

The German is Loewenzahn.

Both the French and German literally mean "lion's tooth" because of the shape of the leaves though I have no idea which was the earlier word. Whichever way it went it's a calque.


"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
December 30, 2023, 06:57
Geoff
And Zahnrad is German for gear (toothed wheel) To design them they use calqueulus.