Comments on: No Subject is Too Petty for an Etymologist, Or, Pets from North to South

By: Monthly Gleanings: April 2009 : OUPblog

Monthly Gleanings: April 2009 : OUPblog — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:59:34 +0000

[...] beauty of a blog is that one can always correct one’s mistakes. In my post on the etymology of pet, I suggested (on the basis of my reading) that, contrary to what is said in dictionaries, pet had [...]

By: Walter Turner

Walter Turner — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:17:37 +0000

I am surprised not to see the German words petze (female dog), petzen (school talk for betray, “tell on” another) and pfetzen (pinch, originally tickle) mentioned, if only to be dismissed. Pfetzen has all the right sounds, and initial p in the others instead of pf could just mean the English and German words didn’t share a Germanic origin. After all, the dog may be a pet, pets are often tickled, and, to be serious for a moment, it is the teacher’s pet who tattles.

By: mike

mike — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:02:36 +0000

This was really interesting. I always find word origins fascinating. Thanks!