Jack's Daily Etymology Lesson

[jackshoegazer]

I am studying for a French test and I saw that the French word for Christian is chrétien which I thought suspiciously sounded like 'cretin' and I thought that was kind of funny. So, I looked up the etymology of 'cretin' and found this: "From "chretien," French for "Christian" or "Christlike," because those affected were so mentally handicapped that they were considered incapable of sinning."

By the way, this is what my brain feels like when I study French:

Comments

[takhys]

Ha, ha, yes, much humour was made of that when we had the following gent as our PM.

[sunnybananas.livejournal.com]

I had no idea that's what that meant. (Also CDN here.)

[heatherlrowe.livejournal.com]

This? This is why I love etymology. Fascinating.

[jesuslovesbono.livejournal.com]

I thought it was from "Cretan" (someone from Crete.)

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

There are several competing theories actually...

From creta, Latin for chalk, because of the pallor of those affected.

From "Crete", where iodine insufficiency (hypothyroidism) was common prior to the modern era.

From cretira, Grisson-Romance creature, from Latin creatus.

From cretine, French for alluvium (soil deposited by flowing water), an allusion to the affliction's suspected origin in inadequate soil.

[jesuslovesbono.livejournal.com]

ahh, interesting.

[pixelsrzen.livejournal.com]

OM NOM NOM