Hobson-Jobson
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- Senior Lexiterian
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Hobson-Jobson
I discovered this word yesterday. It refers to an Anglo-Indian dictionary(dictionary of Indian English) but also refers to the way the English language adopts a foreign word to it,s own phonology. ''Hoosegow'' for ''juzgado'' is a Hobson-Jobson.''
- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
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A nice phrase for folk etymology.
Mangled is a good word here. It was definitely put through the wringer.Hobson-Jobson
1634, British soldiers' mangled Anglicization of the Ar. cry they heard at Muharram processions in India, Ya Hasan! Ya Husayn! ("O Hassan! O Husain!"), mourning two grandsons of the Prophet who died fighting for the faith. This led to the linguists' law of Hobson-Jobson, describing the effort to bring a new and strange word into harmony with the language.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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