Talk:sparerib
Add topicLatest comment: 8 years ago by Leasnam in topic Etymology
Etymology
[edit]The etymology is not good. Here's what Webster's has (similar to etymology in Wikipedia):
by folk etymology from Low German ribbesper pickled pork ribs roasted on a spit, from Middle Low German, from ribbe rib + sper spear, spit
— This unsigned comment was added by 173.67.196.93 (talk) at 23:43, 26 March 2016.
- Here's a link confirming that the above etymology is given by Merriam-Webster (and not some random dictionary using the name "Webster's", which anyone can slap on their dictionary). —Aɴɢʀ (talk) 17:47, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
- Etymonline has both our etymology and the proposed one. Honestly, I find it rather far-fetched that the English comes from MLG―a fair amount of analogical reïmagining (using the word spare) would need to take place for the modern form to occur. I could understand with the English were formed similarly to the MLG, but motivating the lexeme reördering seems difficult with so little explanation. —JohnC5 19:04, 30 March 2016 (UTC)
- It does seem a bit far-fetched, but there were archaic phrases with the verb following the noun, so I can imagine it perhaps being reordered by someone mistaking it for one of those, as a sort of hypercorrection. Chuck Entz (talk) 03:21, 31 March 2016 (UTC)
- OED confirms the OP's comment, stating that the term is probably from Middle Low German ribbespêr with transposition of the two elements, and subsequent association with spare (adj. and adv.). The Dictionary doesn't state which sense of spare is contemplated, but perhaps "[h]aving little flesh; not fat or plump; lean, thin". Apparently, ribspare, a direct borrowing from the German, is also an English word (now rare, though still appearing in dialectical use). — SMUconlaw (talk) 15:56, 31 March 2016 (UTC)
- Question: why are the German nouns in the etymology not capitalized? I thought that was the norm for all German nouns. — SMUconlaw (talk) 18:18, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
- @Smuconlaw: Only Modern High German, referred to more commonly as “German”, capitalizes its nouns. :) —JohnC5 19:36, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
- Ah, interesting. Thanks. — SMUconlaw (talk) 20:34, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
- German Low German also capitalises nouns, however, Nedersaksisch, I believe, doesn't Leasnam (talk) 13:43, 6 April 2016 (UTC)
- Ah, interesting. Thanks. — SMUconlaw (talk) 20:34, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
- @Smuconlaw: Only Modern High German, referred to more commonly as “German”, capitalizes its nouns. :) —JohnC5 19:36, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
- It does seem a bit far-fetched, but there were archaic phrases with the verb following the noun, so I can imagine it perhaps being reordered by someone mistaking it for one of those, as a sort of hypercorrection. Chuck Entz (talk) 03:21, 31 March 2016 (UTC)
- Etymonline has both our etymology and the proposed one. Honestly, I find it rather far-fetched that the English comes from MLG―a fair amount of analogical reïmagining (using the word spare) would need to take place for the modern form to occur. I could understand with the English were formed similarly to the MLG, but motivating the lexeme reördering seems difficult with so little explanation. —JohnC5 19:04, 30 March 2016 (UTC)