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Marcie Sundaram

@alliterative.bsky.social

Interdisciplinarian, historical linguist, philologist, medievalist; I make videos & podcasts about words, history, and literature. Married to @AvenSarah. She/her

1,732 Followers  |  254 Following  |  1,078 Posts  |  Joined: 26.07.2023  |  1.9679

Latest posts by alliterative.bsky.social on Bluesky


A momentary lapse in judgment when you’re in a valley in avalanche country can be a disaster, and that’s etymologically apt. The word avalanche was borrowed from French, from avalantze “descent” in the Romansch language of Switzerland, from lavantse in the Savoy dialect near the Italian border in the western Alps. The first part comes from French avaler “to descend”, from the phrase à val “to the valley”, in Latin ad vallem, from Latin vallis “valley”, which also came into English through French as valley. The second part of avalanche probably comes ultimately from Latin labi “to slip, slide”, which in its past participle form lapsus also came into English as lapse.

A momentary lapse in judgment when you’re in a valley in avalanche country can be a disaster, and that’s etymologically apt. The word avalanche was borrowed from French, from avalantze “descent” in the Romansch language of Switzerland, from lavantse in the Savoy dialect near the Italian border in the western Alps. The first part comes from French avaler “to descend”, from the phrase à val “to the valley”, in Latin ad vallem, from Latin vallis “valley”, which also came into English through French as valley. The second part of avalanche probably comes ultimately from Latin labi “to slip, slide”, which in its past participle form lapsus also came into English as lapse.

The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is AVALANCHE/VALLEY/LAPSE #wotd #avalanche #valley #lapse

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Cow/Beef #Etymology
YouTube video by Alliterative Cow/Beef #Etymology

The surprisingly connected origins of "cow" and "beef".

#etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #cow #beef #anglosaxons #normans

youtube.com/shorts/KssVg...

18.02.2026 16:22 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 1
A luge is a kind of sled that slides down a track, and etymologically this may make sense. Sled and slide come from the Proto-Indo-European root *sleidh- “to slip, slide”, slide coming into English through Old English slidan and sled through Middle Low German sledde. Luge comes from the Savoy dialect of French, from Medieval Latin sludia, which may come from a Gaulish word from that same Proto-Indo-European root.

A luge is a kind of sled that slides down a track, and etymologically this may make sense. Sled and slide come from the Proto-Indo-European root *sleidh- “to slip, slide”, slide coming into English through Old English slidan and sled through Middle Low German sledde. Luge comes from the Savoy dialect of French, from Medieval Latin sludia, which may come from a Gaulish word from that same Proto-Indo-European root.

The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is LUGE/SLIDE #wotd #luge #sled #slide #Olympics2026

16.02.2026 20:59 — 👍 4    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 1

Suno costs money, and working class people have always made music. Even enslaved people have made music historically. And music has always been a powerful tool for social change

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Assets/Sad/Satisfy #Etymology
YouTube video by Alliterative Assets/Sad/Satisfy #Etymology

The surprisingly connected origins of "assets", "sad", and "satisfy".

#etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #asset #sad #satisfy

youtube.com/shorts/SlY5h...

11.02.2026 16:06 — 👍 4    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 1
WOMEN AND METAL HAVE 5 MINUTES? HELP A GIRL OUT AND FILL OUT MY SURVEY ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCES AS FEMALE METAL FAN AND MISOGYNY ALL RESPONSES ARE ANONYMOUS Goldsmiths

WOMEN AND METAL HAVE 5 MINUTES? HELP A GIRL OUT AND FILL OUT MY SURVEY ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCES AS FEMALE METAL FAN AND MISOGYNY ALL RESPONSES ARE ANONYMOUS Goldsmiths

Please share and/or fill this out if it applies to you: forms.gle/6TuZYUzhAznR...

"Female identifying metal fans- I need your input for my university research! I am currently gathering some stats around misogyny in metal music scenes…All reponses will be recorded as anonymous.”

10.02.2026 13:52 — 👍 52    🔁 70    💬 3    📌 4
What does curling have to do with grapes? Etymology! Curling gets its name from the way the stone curls on the ice, and can be traced back to the root *g(e)r- “curving, crooked”. This also produced Germanic *krappon “hook”, and from that Old French graper “catch with a hook, pick grapes”, so basically the word transferred from referring to the vine hook used for picking grapes to the grapes themselves, replacing the Old English word winberige, literally “wine berry”.

What does curling have to do with grapes? Etymology! Curling gets its name from the way the stone curls on the ice, and can be traced back to the root *g(e)r- “curving, crooked”. This also produced Germanic *krappon “hook”, and from that Old French graper “catch with a hook, pick grapes”, so basically the word transferred from referring to the vine hook used for picking grapes to the grapes themselves, replacing the Old English word winberige, literally “wine berry”.

The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is CURLING/GRAPE #wotd #curling #grape #grapes #Olympics #Olympics2026 🥌 🍇

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Detective/Thug #Etymology
YouTube video by Alliterative Detective/Thug #Etymology

The surprisingly connected origins of "detective" and "thug".

#etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #detective #thug

youtube.com/shorts/s97_z...

04.02.2026 16:18 — 👍 5    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 1
Being on strike can produce a certain amount of stress and strain, but even though this goes along with the etymological territory, ultimately it should have a very different effect. Strike used to have an almost opposite sense, “to touch softly, rub” and is related to stroke, with strike, stroke, strain, and stress all going back to *streig- “stroke, rub, press”. The more violent sense of “hit hard” didn’t appear until the 13th century, and the labour disruption sense developed in the 18th century, from the notion of downing one’s tools, particularly sailors striking the sails when they didn’t want to leave port.

Being on strike can produce a certain amount of stress and strain, but even though this goes along with the etymological territory, ultimately it should have a very different effect. Strike used to have an almost opposite sense, “to touch softly, rub” and is related to stroke, with strike, stroke, strain, and stress all going back to *streig- “stroke, rub, press”. The more violent sense of “hit hard” didn’t appear until the 13th century, and the labour disruption sense developed in the 18th century, from the notion of downing one’s tools, particularly sailors striking the sails when they didn’t want to leave port.

The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is STRIKE/STRESS/STRAIN #wotd #strike #stress #strain

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Voyage/Way #Etymology
YouTube video by Alliterative Voyage/Way #Etymology

The surprisingly connected origins of "voyage" and "way".

#etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #voyage #way

youtube.com/shorts/rMm8S...

28.01.2026 17:44 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 1
In his speech at the World Economic Forum, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney eloquently pointed out that the middle powers of the world can no longer rely on hegemons like the United States and must instead seek more diversified trading alliances, since America has forsaken a rules-based world order. Hegemon, meaning “a leading power; a dominant state”, is borrowed directly from Greek hegemon “leader, commander, chief” from the verb hegeisthai “to lead” with the original sense “to track down” from Proto-Indo-European *sag-eyo- a suffixed form of the root *sag- “to seek out”, with PIE /s/ regularly becoming Greek /h/. That original /s/ was preserved in the Germanic branch with the suffixed form *sag-yo- leading to Proto-Germanic *sokjan, Old English secan or seocan “to seek”, and Modern English seek. The zero-grade form of this root *səg- also came into Old English, as sacan “to disagree, quarrel; fight; lay legal claim to; blame, accuse”, which when combined with the intensifying prefix for- “completely” formed OE forsacan “refuse; give up, relinquish; deny” and Modern English forsake.

In his speech at the World Economic Forum, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney eloquently pointed out that the middle powers of the world can no longer rely on hegemons like the United States and must instead seek more diversified trading alliances, since America has forsaken a rules-based world order. Hegemon, meaning “a leading power; a dominant state”, is borrowed directly from Greek hegemon “leader, commander, chief” from the verb hegeisthai “to lead” with the original sense “to track down” from Proto-Indo-European *sag-eyo- a suffixed form of the root *sag- “to seek out”, with PIE /s/ regularly becoming Greek /h/. That original /s/ was preserved in the Germanic branch with the suffixed form *sag-yo- leading to Proto-Germanic *sokjan, Old English secan or seocan “to seek”, and Modern English seek. The zero-grade form of this root *səg- also came into Old English, as sacan “to disagree, quarrel; fight; lay legal claim to; blame, accuse”, which when combined with the intensifying prefix for- “completely” formed OE forsacan “refuse; give up, relinquish; deny” and Modern English forsake.

The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is HEGEMON/SEEK/FORSAKEN #wotd #hegemon #seek #forsaken #MarkCarney #WEF #cndpoli

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“Agrarian Revolution Pig”

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Cable/Heave #Etymology
YouTube video by Alliterative Cable/Heave #Etymology

The surprisingly connected origins of "cable", "heave", and "heavy".

#etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #cable #heave #heavy

youtube.com/shorts/9ZC6b...

21.01.2026 16:52 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 1
Why do universities need unions? Etymology! It’s probably clear that both words come from Latin unus “one”. A union is a collection of workers. You might have thought that the word university reflects the idea of universal education or the universal coverage of subjects, but in fact it’s short for universitas magistrorum et scholarium, the union of teachers and students. The university started out as a kind of scholastic guild to protect their interests against outside, non-academic forces, reducing the financial barriers to education and protecting the livelihood of the teachers.

Why do universities need unions? Etymology! It’s probably clear that both words come from Latin unus “one”. A union is a collection of workers. You might have thought that the word university reflects the idea of universal education or the universal coverage of subjects, but in fact it’s short for universitas magistrorum et scholarium, the union of teachers and students. The university started out as a kind of scholastic guild to protect their interests against outside, non-academic forces, reducing the financial barriers to education and protecting the livelihood of the teachers.

I’m on strike at my university, so the #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is union/university! (For more info about the strike: linktr.ee/lufappul) #wotd #union #university #strike

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That is the best hat ever

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Secret/Police #Etymology
YouTube video by Alliterative Secret/Police #Etymology

The surprisingly connected origins of "secret", "police", "political", "quasi", "unethical" and "concern".

#etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #secret #police #political #quasi #unethical #concern

youtube.com/shorts/cd73k...

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