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Hey y'all. Quentin here with my first post on the Atlas. Let's jump right into some eXtreme etymology! Why? So we can talk about candy and words! A delectable combination!
The word licorice originates from Middle English, originally coming from the Greek roots glukus (sweet) and rhiza (root). As a result, when a true etymologist would like to get a taste from the licorice tray, he politely asks his butler, "Could I trouble you for bit of sweet root?"
Actually, I'm lying...... licorice doesn't come in trays. It comes in brightly colored bags!! (It also apparently comes in the different colors of the rainbow.) *shrugs*
I imagine a conversation such as this one:
"Here's your sweet root, sir, at your command."
"Thank you Jeeves, but I am sorry to point out that there are no indigo licorices here."
"This one is purple, sir; it's just about indigo."
"NO IT'S NOT! I wasn't even going to point out the lack of violet twists, but now I'll have to. And purple isn't even in the rainbow!"
Then he runs into his conservatory and cries all over his boomerang collection... good times.
Oh those etymologists...
Anyway, here's the rough idea of the different metamorphoses the word licorice has undergone:
glukurrhiza (Greek)
liquiritia (Latin)
licoresse (Old French)
licorice (now)
Also, this is an exciting day because it is the first of a new segment that will occasionally show up in the blog! Introducing Awesome British Spellings Which Are Not The Same As Mine! (Acronym: ABSWANTSAM, pronounced Abs Want Sam)
ABSWANTSAM:
Licorice is spelled liquorice in the United Kingdom, as our UK friends enjoy their words best when they are truest to their Latin roots. Their spelling is much cooler and makes a lot more sense than ours here in the US. I'm jealous.
C U Around,
Quentin
2 comments:
How did the Greek "glukurrhiza" turn into the Latin "liquiritia" (Further research from http://www.etymonline.com/ claims that "liquiritia" is an alteration of "glycyrrhiza" for "licorice root". How did that happen?)? Was that simply a literal translation of (at least one of) the word components?
And why does the Latin "liquiritia" lack the part for "root"? (see parenthetical question)
Are the above questions even answerable, or am I just rambling?
I am not claiming to be an expert of phonetics, (this is Quentin, btw) but I think that while the Greek to Latin change is the biggest in that brief history of "licorice" that I researched, there is still a bit of a link between them aurally.
Also, I found one addition tidbit on that link and answers.com seems to indicate that the latin pronunciation of the word was influenced by by Latin liquere, meaning to flow. I guess they kind of merged the words though.
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