Nicknames?

[MLE (Emily Cotton)]

As long as we're doing name-changes, how about the Jacobites? I wondered for years where THAT name came from, until one day wiki updated the page to explain the 'Jacob' is the Latin form of 'James'. So the Jacobites were the nobles, mostly Scots, who didn't like James II being chased out for being Catholic and refused to bow to James' daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange.

And on the incomprehensibility of languages, may I submit, for your amusement, Steeleye Span singing 'Cam ye o' frae France'?
As the lady says, it's nearly incomprehensible -- and even if you DO comprehend it, the words are so contextual that you have to live in the day and age to get the references.

But it was a fun exercise to decipher, and I learned a bit of history in the process!

[DianeL]

This may not be appropriate to the thread, but speaking of names - I found two great little bits from Smithsonian online, discussing pet names of the medieval/early modern period, and on on Greek dog names in Antiquity. Anne Boleyn's pun is pretty great.

[Michy]

[quote=""MLE""]As long as we're doing name-changes, how about the Jacobites? I wondered for years where THAT name came from, until one day wiki updated the page to explain the 'Jacob' is the Latin form of 'James'. [/quote]

The evolution of Jacob into James is as convoluted as the old game of "gossip!"

The etymology of words and names is a topic I find fascinating.......