etymology quotes

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Words ... are little houses, each with its cellar and garret. Common sense lives on the ground floor, always ready to engage in 'f... - MORE Words ... are little houses, each with its cellar and garret. Common sense lives on the ground floor, always ready to engage in 'foreign commerce' on the same level as the others, as the passers-by, who are never dreamers. To go upstairs in the word house is to withdraw step by step; while to go down to the cellar is to dream, it is losing oneself in the distant corridors of an obscure etymology, looking for treasures that cannot be found in words. To mount and descend in the words themselves—this is a poet's life. To mount too high or descend too low is allowed in the case of poets, who bring earth and sky together.
Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of "style." But while style—deriving fro... - MORE Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of "style." But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.
Names, once they are in common use, quickly become mere sounds, their etymology being buried, like so many of the earth's marvels,... - MORE Names, once they are in common use, quickly become mere sounds, their etymology being buried, like so many of the earth's marvels, beneath the dust of habit.
The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to exp... - MORE The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.
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