What is the origin of the expression “plenty of fish”? Well, I have hunted this one down and as of yet unable to find the origin. Usually idioms which refer to animals come from well known sources like the Bible or Aesop’s fables. However, the exact origin of plenty of fish alludes me and I would be curious if anyone knows where it came from. The first reference in English appeared in 1573, and in America about 1903.

There are Plenty of fish in the sea

The meaning of plenty of fish of course is, there are plenty of fish in the sea, that is there are plenty of other people to date and many perhaps better, as the world is full of opportunity. It is a big sea and there are many fish in it. I have even heard there is a dating site with the name plenty of fish.

Plenty of fish in other languages

What I do know is, this is plenty of fish is a universal Indo-European idiom, but perhaps a world idiom, but I could not find it in Japan and a few other countries. But they might have a metaphorical equivalent as this is a universal human experience. For example, in Russian you have: there are plenty of fish in the pond. You have something like plenty of fish in Polish also referring to a Pond rather, than sea. But in Polish perhaps closer in meaning is the Polish idiom,tego kwiata jest pl Swiata that means, half of the world is this flower. Of course Poland is more a country of fields (Pole means field) than sea so this is more a Polish idiom. The Greeks say, there are plenty more fish in the sea. The Italians – non  la sola possibilit, in Portugal they say, outras chances viro (quando algo d errado), Spanish no es la nica persona en el mundo. This all means the same thing. There are plenty of fish in the sea. Can you believe it is even in China have the same expression which basically means there are plenty of fish in the sea.

Which is right to use Slavic or Slavonic languages when referring to such languages as Russian, Polish, Ukrainian etc?  Slavic is American English, which is used in about 70% of situations, while Slavonic is UK English used in about 30% of the world (at the very most some estimates are as low as 12%).  Therefore if you are refering to the language of the Slavs as Slavic or Slavonic, both are right.  Slavonic has been in use at least since the 17th century, while Slavic has been in use at least since the 19th century. I use Slavic as it is easier and I am American.  The origin of the word Slav is not what you might think. Words have meaning and come from somewhere. The origin of the the word Slav, the root of Slavic or Slavonic is interesting and meaningful and can be read if you follow the post ‘origin of the word Slav’ above.

Neanderthals  had  the capacity to speak just as Modern humans do, at least that is what their genes tell us.  According to Johannes Krause and Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute, in Germany who were part of a European team that studied the Neanderthals genome.  The specific gene is FOXP2, and is known as the speech and language gene. It is found in modern humans but not in primates.

This gene is responsible for allowing humans to make quick movements with their tongue and mouth, among other things.   Some humans who have a disorder of connected with FOXP2 and the result is they can not communicate properly.

The new study does not conclude it is a fact that Neanderthals had language, but rather there is no reason to believe that neanderthals did not have language.  The pieces seem to all be in place.

Commonly used verbs are less likely to change

A verb that is used often will change verb slowly, whilst a verb that is used less frequently will change less. This is according to a Harvard University team lead by Martin Nowak. Nowak is not a linguist but rather a professor of mathematics and of biology at Harvard He studies evolutionary dynamics. He applied evolutionary mathematical models to words. His Harvard team looked at 177 Old English irregular verbs and traced their develop to today.

Nowak found that verbs that are irregular change to regular verbs with “ed” endings 10 times faster than irregular verbs that are used more often. This is linguistic evolution and mathematics. If you think about it it makes sense. However, what is interesting is Nowak studied this phenomenom with empirical data.
These ancient irregular verbs that do not change are fossils or rather they represent long abandon rules of how verbs were conjugated in the past.

Modern verbs

All modern verbs are regular. The English language is becoming more simple and clear. For example “to google” is a classic example. You say ‘I googled something last night’.

I love the origin of words, they help me learn new words in a foreign language by adding richness to the word I am trying to learn.  Here is an English word origin that is interesting.   In English we say ‘son of a gun’.  The origin of this word I herd goes back to the ‘age of sail’ when ships carrying molasses, rum and unfortuantly slaves. Often the sailors carried native women, between the cannons or guns and, did ‘you know what’.   The boys born to these women were called ‘sons of between the guns’.

Berlin was a Polish city or at least western Slavic in origin.

Berlin was actually founded by Western Slavic fishing tribes.  They built a reasonable size city until Eastward expanding Germans launched a series of offensives against them.  Slavic tribes were able to retake the city, but were more peaceful fishermen and tradesmen and were no match for the professional German armies that lay siege to Berlin.

Berlin the name

The city Berlin has a Slavic not a German name. Think about Berlin how it is similar to the city of Lublin.  It does not have a ‘burg’ or other Germanic endings. I think it comes from an old Slavic word meaning bog or marsh.  The slavic languages have words that sound like ‘berl’ or ’brlog’.  Meaning fishing village or bog or swamp/meadow.   The etymology of Brandenburg comes from Slavic ‘brenna’ also meaning swamp. It is 100% Slavic not German, ironically.

Slavic names in Berlin names

In fact today in section of the city there are street names with Slavic sounds and names as a legacy to their founders the Slavic people.

Scottish highlands in the Appalachian mountains

Did you know that many of the southerners, especially in the Appalachian Mountains still have words and accents that are connected to their origins? That is the Scottish highlands. Its amazing if you go down to the back parts you can still almost hear this accent.

Southern rebel yell

During the American Civil War the southern rebel yell was actually a Scottish highland battle cry.

Origin of the term French kiss

The term French kiss dates back at least to the 1920s. I think it has something to do with the specific culture of France in the roaring 20s. The States had the Great Gatsby and decadence expressed in materialism, while the French had a decadence expressed as a culture of passion, during the 1920s. To be French was to be passionate, oh la la etc. French kiss.

The above is the popular idea of how French kiss was started. However, I have another theory about the term French Kiss. The term might have started during the colonial wars of the 1700s when many idioms and expressions like French kiss, came about as the English looked for ways to put down the French.

In the book ‘Last of the Mohegans’ during the French and Indian war of the 1750s the English commander makes a put down of the French courage by saying “the French would rather make love with their face than make war” This book was written in the 1800s. So I believe ironically, French Kiss could come from this time of French and English anomosity. Why else would a classic book make sure a reference.

Why French kiss

If you want to French Kiss, then French kissing is highly recommended for those who want intimate passion while waiting for marriage for everything. 

How to French kiss

The best way to French kiss is not going in like a shark attack, rather it should be slow and more exploratory.   You should lead with our lips not your tongue, you do not want too much cream not enought milk. Oh and close your eyes.  Also try Eskimo kissing with your nose as a variation during a French kiss. Now Americans have a low tolerance for public displays of affection. In fact if we see people doing a French kiss in public, we say, they must be Europeans, as it makes us feel uncomfortable. Which I find silly because a French kiss is really innocent compared to the movies we have.

French kiss as a gift

No money, or not time, or no interest in a commercial Valentines present. The give your girl a French Kiss for say 1/2 an hour. Or give her a French Kiss 1 minute for every month you have been together for a Valentines day gift. I think no women in the world would be unhappy about 30 minutes, nothing else but a French Kiss. I think a French Kiss is better than any money or commerical gift. It sounds corny but give her the gift of a French Kiss.

The Mayans were the only perhaps the only indigenous peoples of the Americas that had a written language. And what it revealed was a powerful civilization marked my rituals and blood.

The Language

Mayan languages were written in the Maya hieroglyphic script. Some of the script were sounds and others words. The surviving body of written language consists of over 10,000 known individual Maya inscriptions. In addition there was a post colonial language written in the Latin alphabet and even a surviving Spanish Mayan dictionary. Therefore we have a rich understanding of the Mayan civilization through their written language.

What the Mayan language tells us

“Modern specialists have also been able to declassify Mayan calendars, as well astronomical data and the system of calculation – scientists were amazed to see how precise they were. One of the ancient calendars counted 18 months, 20 days each, 360 days in total, which were followed with five “unlucky” days. Specialists presumed that the Maya were a peace-loving nation that was spending the majority of their time looking up at the sky and watching stars. ”
I believe as we learn more about the Mayans though their language they will continue to fascinate us.

The ancient Slavic people, by church and Byzantine accounts and archeological evidence had one supreme god, which ruled the heavens.  The ancient Slavic god was named Perun.  Perun battled the evil enemy Veles and sent him to the underworld. This god Perun was the supreme god of all and his rule was manifest in lightning and thunder.  In fact storms were celestial battles.  The Polish word for lightening is Piorun.  However, this can also be used for lightening and thunder.  The similarities and the genesis of this word are obvious.  Also the word for storm is burza. This sounds like the Polish word for God, Boże in the vocative case.

The Proto Indo European word for thunder god was Perkwunos.

Perun and St. Michael

With the arrival of Christianity Perun was perhaps replaced by St. Michael conceptually as the vanquisher of the devil and commander of heaven’s legions.With this history of the ancient Slavic supreme god, I hope you will remember the Polish word for lightening. If you add richness to your language learning your will remember your word better.

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