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submitted 3 months ago by Irelephant@lemm.ee to c/facepalm@lemmy.world

BTW, check merriam-webster's bluesky. Its really good.

TranscriptA tweet saying "It took me 19 years to figure out NEWS stands for "notable events, weather and sports" 🤔". It has a reply from Merriam-Webster saying "No."

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[-] toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world 39 points 3 months ago

come on, y'all. it clearly stands for North, East, West, South!

i love folk etymology.

"News" is actually the "new things". The plural of "new".

[-] argh_another_username@lemmy.ca 6 points 3 months ago

Why stop there?

new(adj.)

Middle English neue, from Old English neoweniowe, earlier niwe "made or established for the first time, fresh, recently made or grown; novel, unheard-of, different from the old; untried, inexperienced, unused," from Proto-Germanic *neuja-(source also of Old Saxon niuwi, Old Frisian nie, Middle Dutch nieuwe, Dutch nieuw, Old High German niuwl, German neu, Danish and Swedish ny, Gothic niujis "new").

[-] toy_boat_toy_boat@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

proto-germanic is fascinating. it's a whole "conceptual language" made entirely out of assumptions, and i love it.

i assume you're aware of RobWords on youtube? he also does another show called Words Unraveled. if you're a word nerd like me, i'm sure you'd love boþ.

edit: #HARDCORE Þ

[-] argh_another_username@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 months ago

Thanks. I’ll check.

this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2025
469 points (100.0% liked)

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