Tootfinder

I recently researched the etymology of two interesting German words:
- "nonchalant" (informal, relaxed, casual, carefree, easy-going): I found that interesting because it's obviously a negation and I never read the non-negated form "chalant". Turns out that the non-negated form goes back to latin "calēre" (warm, to be hot, to be alarmed, to be fired up)
- "verschollen" (lost, missing, nothing has been known about the whereabouts of sth. or sb. for a long time). I found it weird because I couldn't make any sense of "schollen". This might be related to "verschallen" (stop making noise) and might go back to old high German "skellan" (which is also related to German "Schelle", a small bell). So, "verschollen" can be seen as a euphemistic expression because stop making noise is used to refer to being lost (and maybe dead).
#etymology #linguistics #German

Ethanol's pretty cool

So ‘mistletoe’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon words for ‘shit stick’?
https://www.npr.org/2025/12/17/nx-s1-5641015/mistletoe-dung-manure-etymology

Ethanol plant spills harmful wastewater into Philippine marine reserve https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/11/ethanol-plant-spills-harmful-wastewater-into-philippine-marine-reserve/

Ethanol plant spills harmful wastewater into Philippine marine reserve
A chemical spill from an ethanol distillery has put one of the Philippines’ largest marine protected areas at risk. A wall retaining the wastewater pond of an ethanol distillery plant collapsed on Oct. 24, causing about 255,000 cubic meters (67 million gallons) of wastewater to flow into Bais Bay in the central Philippines, according to […]

And the “-ger” part of "Roger” also appears in "garlic”—literally “spear leek”.
#etymology https://toot.community/@AllEndlessKnot/115684991273671288

Alliterative/Endless Knot (@AllEndlessKnot@toot.community)
Attached: 1 image The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is RUDOLPH/WOLF #wotd #Rudolph #wolf #RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer #Christmas #Christmas2025 #Xmas

The Etymology Of Rawr XD by STRANGE ÆONS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDFYYUqWlS8

from my link log —
A brief history of NSA backdoors. (2013)
https://www.ethanheilman.com/x/12/index.html
saved 2025-11-29 https://d…

#Etymology ‘R’ Us.
Annihilate. From Latin, an- “to bring to-“ nihil “nothing”

This made me laugh. Reminds me of the time @… added garam masala to the flapjacks instead of ground ginger and it was surprisingly good 😄
https://www.

TIL that the etymology of "Belgium" is basically "angry people".