Word Analysis Thread

[BestDatrix]

Ever thought of a word and went, "Dude I'd love to figure out why Brainstorming is called Brainstorming"?
Me too. So, I decided that this thread should be made. Ask questions about a word and pitch your ideas about words people have posted.

 

[Sijih]

if you're already aware then forgive me for condescending but the field that does word analysis of a word's origin is called "etymology"

with a bit of reading and studying you can get answers for questions like "why is brainstorming called brainstorming" form trained linguists (as opposed to competitive pokemon enthusiasts)! for example, for your question you can look up "brainstorm etymology" on google and get quite a few results.

of course, you have to exercise some critical thinking with the sources. wiktionary and etymonline may not be the most reliable, but the official websites for dictionaries will often be good. here's an article about why brainstorming is called brainstorming from merriam webster: click me!

etymology is interesting in and of itself, but it also gives you some great insights into culture and societal values so it's definitely worth spending some time looking into it

 

[StupidFlandrs48]

“Congregation” has always struck me as a crime against words. We should do a full government investigation into the words origins and then change the forum name if they’re weird/don’t make sense

 

[RainWaiv]

“Congregation” has always struck me as a crime against words. We should do a full government investigation into the words origins and then change the forum name if they’re weird/don’t make sense

Congregation is the noun for "congregate" (to form a group), and typically refers to a group of people connecting over a shared topic. The word "congregation" remains relatively unchanged from the original latin "congregatio" which itself is based on the latin word for a collective group "congregare".

 

[BestDatrix]

Congregation is the noun for "congregate" (to form a group), and typically refers to a group of people connecting over a shared topic. The word "congregation" remains relatively unchanged from the original latin "congregatio" which itself is based on the latin word for a collective group "congregare".

This becomes better considering the "Conga" dance, which is literally a LINE of people connecting over a dance.