www.alphadictionary.com

Am down in the Florida Keys, just contemplating things here that don't exist in Connecticut, to where I must return. Impossible to ignore is the tree/bushy thing called a "mangrove". My wandering mind thought, what is the origin of that word? A grove is usually many trees, but here they talk about the mangrove[u]s[/u]. Also, what does it have to do with a man? Obviously, I'm just being silly, which is what happens down here in the Keys among the mangroves. But how the heck did we get that word, anyhow?

Here is the answer provided at www.etymoline.com:

1610s, from Sp. mangle, mangue (1530s), perhaps from Carib or Arawakan. Second syllable is from influence of grove. A Malay origin also has been proposed, but it is difficult to explain how it came to be used for an American plant.

Bottom line, nobody knows.

By the by, have some conch fritters while you are down there if conchs haven't become endangered. Quite yummy. Oh, yes, and be sure to splash it down with the beverage of your choice. Yo ho ho and a bottla rum!

WELCOME PEPACE

No linguistic tie in, but the April 2011 issue of Discover Magazine has, on page 19, a little piece on what the mangrove tree does and how it does it. Not a lot there, but if you're interested in the tree, it's worth a check.

Not much, indeed, but interesting.