Un animal de bât is indeed a pack saddle animal, and bâtard is indeed a bastard so that’s pretty cool. Never realised the connection! -ard in French is also often a negative suffix, like connard which would be a… “cuntard” if you will.
-asse is the feminine variant, although there are inconsistencies, such as pétard / pétasse which are probably related but one is a firecracker, while the other is a tart (the lady kind)Rude language is always so much fun!
There are too many hoardards in our world.
They bring up wizard… But what about bards?
Too b or not too b
Today I learned I might be too ret.
The root means “slow”, BTW, so it does get to join that list.
Mine is Blowh
ahh so that’s why charizard is so hot
¡Más chorizo!
How about regard? Even tho it’s also a verb.
You’re too reg? Sounds like it could’ve been gen z slang in another timeline, like mid.
I love etymology
Why?
Etymology
: A branch of linguistics concerned with etymologies (origin/history of words)Entomology
: A branch of zoology that deals with insectspeople who confuse entomology and etymology bug me in ways i can’t put into words
classic
See also: haggard, laggard, braggart (this one changed to a ‘t’ for some reason), dastard, dullard, and a few others. It’s uncommon but it’s out there!
My utterly baseless theory on braggart is that those folks have always been so MF irritating, through history, that people pronouncing the word just tend to do so using a clipped, terse voice.
“Oh, m’lady, pray tell? T’was Kevin spinning such fanciful yarns for thee? (grits teeth) UGH, that braggart”
I don’t care if it’s true.
Dotard!
Doesn’t work in German (also a Germanic language like English):
- Mustard: Senf / Mostrich
- Bastard: Bastard
- Wizard: Zauberer
- Coward: Feigling
- Drunkard: Säufer / Trunkenbold
It’s thought to be a misunderstanding between French speakers and German surnames. Francophones presumed it was a trade suffix the way in English someone who bakes is a baker. English is a salad of confusion between these two.
So what is a guard?
Too protective/remarkably protective? I made this up, but if usage started with peasantry or something it kind of makes sense.
you sound like a smartard
What about standard
According to etymonline, it’s from the French estandart meaning a military banner, or from the Medieval Latin standardum. These in turn possibly come from the old Frankish standhard, so literally to stand hard like a flag or a long-standing tradition.
I think there’s a wacky Japanese comic book about this
I’d say its more bizarre than wacky.
“-ard” would mean not so much “excessively” as “by their/its nature”; i.e. a seed/condiment whose very nature is mustiness, a person conceived out of wedlock (which was considered a black mark on one’s character back then), one who is habitually drunk, and so on
It’s not “too” something; it’s just being strong (hardy) or remarkable in that trait. A lot of sources list it as derogatory, but it isn’t so in all instances of use.
A wizard is not too wise, but very wise. Renard or Reinhardt is someone who gives good advice or makes good decisions.
The “must” in mustard is juice and pulp which you intend to ferment, because grape must was an ingredient. There’s a lot of debate over whether the “ard” is the one in this post or ardens (burning).
“Wizard” historically had a negative connotation though.
It’s to be expected that an old suffix can have multiple meanings.
It could have a negative connotation. One could be a genuine wise man or essentially a snake oil salesman, so the word could be applied in both ways. It’s like how we use “genius” as an insult; we’re using the word in an ironic and sarcastic way.
Here is a collection of various uses throughout history:
A wizard is not too wise, but very wise.
Thanks, that one was strangard.
goonard? looksarding?
