Tag: evolution

Hello Everyone,

Words travel all around the world, and after so many decades, they come back home. As I continue reading “L’Italiano e’ bello” by Mariangela Galatea Vaglio, I came across some fascinating insights that I would like to share with you. It turns out that many words we think are of Anglo-Saxon origin are actually Latin. So, even when we believe we are borrowing these words from another language, we are, in fact, using them correctly because they originate from Latin, our mother tongue!

For example:

Sport: While it is commonly associated with English, its origin is Latin (sportula). Sportula was a small basket used by housewives to buy food. In ancient Rome, during sports competitions, winners received a crown and a sportula, which was useful and significant for everyday life.

Computer: This word also derives from Latin (computo, meaning calculation). Interestingly, the first personal computer was Italian, created by Olivetti. It was called Perottina, named after its inventor, Perotto. It was even used in NASA operations that sent humans to the moon. Curious, isn’t it? A small yet significant step for mankind made by Italians… just saying… 😊

Jeans: The term “blue jeans” comes from “blu di Genoa, Genova” (the cloth used by dockworkers for their uniforms due to its durability). Similarly, jeans became the uniform for American workers.

To sum up

these words and many others have Latin roots (Latin is considered a dead language today, except for its use in writing Catholic books by the church). They were exported abroad and became part of the English language, causing confusion by making people believe they had a completely different origin.

Incredible, right? This is just another example of how a language evolves!