Cats are believed to have been brought first into England from Cyprus by merchants who came to Cornwall for tin. It is generally supposed that the name is Teutonic. If so, it is a curious coincidence that the modern Persian name for cat is catio.
-- from Words, facts, and phrases; a dictionary of curious, quaint, and out-of-the-way matters, Eliezer Edwards (Chatto & Windus, 1882), p. 104. I have been trying to find any other reference to this theory, which is totally new to me. So far, nothing. Anyone else ever heard this one?
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10 comments:
My husband is gonna be REALLY sad, he INSISTS he invented the word "Catio".
heh heh.
You know, I was thinking of you when I posted that!
Well, that's interesting. If okay with you, I'll link to this post from my second blog - the one about words.
Hmmm didn't know that!
Huh! And I always thought it was the aliens responsible for the pyramids that spread cats all over the world. Not to mention they're magical creatures that can probably teleport wherever they like.
Hi Parlance - Of course you can post that. I'd be honored.
Hi Damn Cute Bunny - heh heh, I'm pretty sure cats can teleport.
We've never heard that one before. But we know that the word cat derives from many similar words around the world. There's ana ancient indo-eurasian (?) word for cat "ghad" which apparently means - to grasp.
The ape says that the common word for cat in the UK "puss" comes from the Indian word "pasht" which was a sort of descendent of the word "Bast" - the cat god from Egypt
Our ape does go on and on and on...
Gerry & Oliver
Ooh! Gerry & Oliver, that is some excellent information!
There is a body of water outside Plymouth harbour on Devon/Cornwall border called Catte Water. So maybe??
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