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From: "Israel \"izzy\" Cohen" <>
Subject: Something is rotten in Denmark
Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 15:36:41 +0200


On sci.lang, Vincent Ramos wrote:

>> Odor (« smell ») and odium have no etymological relationship. According
>> to Ernout and Meillet, _Dictionnaire Etymologique de la langue latine_,
>> « Le rapprochement entre odor et odium n'est qu'une plaisanterie » ("a
>> pun, a joke"). <<

That made me realize the likely origin of the expression "There's something
rotten in Denmark." The question, of course, is: why Denmark ?

Using 3 for the letter aiyin, a common Hebrew equivalent of "odium" is SHa:M
Ra3a, literally "bad/evil name/reputation". But the shin had a dental
D/T-sound and the aiyin had a velar G/K-sound; therefore, SHa:M Ra3a sounded
like [D]MR[K] or Denmark.

A similar explanation accounts for the English name for a pirate flag: The
Jolly Roger. The Hebrew equivalent is DeGeL Ra3a, literally "evil flag". The
Arabic parallel for Hebrew hard G is usually a soft G or J-sound. So, that
phrase sounded like D-J-L-R-G when shouted by an Arab seaman. To an English
ear, that sounds like Th' Jolly Roger.

Compare the Latin genus for crab, Brachyura, and Hebrew BeReKH Ra3a,
literally "evil leg", referring to its pincer. Crab is a reversal of Brach-
or BeReKH. The names of dangerous creatures are often reversed across
languages.

Thanks, Vincent.

izzy
Israel "izzy" Cohen
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BPMaps/

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