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AnthillOmbudsman t1_j9q0h1u wrote

Reply to comment by RunDNA in TIL that in 1554 Elizabeth Crofts hid in a wall on Aldersgate Street, where she pretended to be a heavenly voice. Reputedly 17,000 people came to listen to her give out anti-Catholic propaganda. by Kurma-the-Turtle

> desyringe

wtf is that word? I put it in Google and after forcing it to search for it as spelled I get dozens of examples but no explanation of what it means. I wonder if this is bad OCR or something.

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phistomefel_smeik t1_j9q5kaj wrote

Language evolves and this text is 500 years old! As a german speaking historian I find it interesting how easy this short passage was to read. Written german texts from that period are way harder to decipher imo. Middle high german honestly feels like a different language or at least a strong dialect. And sometimes you think that something sounds like a modern german word but then it turns out to mean something completely different.

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rolyfuckingdiscopoly t1_j9r4csn wrote

That’s so interesting! I love things like that. Language is so cool. Also words that look or sound like one you know in your language but aren’t related… I forget the term for them. But like avocat in French not being avocado lol. My Arabic teacher called them “false friends,” and I think it’s fun to try to trace connections to them anyway.

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