this post was submitted on 19 May 2024
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My favorite bit of bear lore is the etymology of the word "bear"
spoiler
The English word "bear" comes from Old English bera and belongs to a family of names for the bear in Germanic languages, such as Swedish björn, also used as a first name. This form is conventionally said to be related to a Proto-Indo-European word for "brown", so that "bear" would mean "the brown one".[1][2] However, Ringe notes that while this etymology is semantically plausible, a word meaning "brown" of this form cannot be found in Proto-Indo-European. He suggests instead that "bear" is from the Proto-Indo-European word *ǵʰwḗr- ~ *ǵʰwér "wild animal".[3] This terminology for the animal originated as a taboo avoidance term: proto-Germanic tribes replaced their original word for bear—arkto—with this euphemistic expression out of fear that speaking the animal's true name might cause it to appear.[4][5] According to author Ralph Keyes, this is the oldest known euphemisSame thing in Slavic languages, but they replaced arkto with ~~"the one who knows where the honey is", medved (med = honey, ved = knowledge)~~ "honey eater", thank you for correcting comrades!
Huh, I thought it was more akin to "honey eater"
It literally means honey eater
Erm, ackshually Wiktionary says that's a false etymology.
Thank for correcting bigbigchungus! I thought it's honey-knower my whole life
No problem
What Arctotherium and Cave Bear encounters can do to mfs💀
Omg seabear