butterfly

[sardith]

I just read in a book that I cannot deem reliable, or not, that the word, butterfly used to be, flutterby.

Can anyone confirm that? Better yet, can we get a column? I find the possibility of something like that so interesting, because if it happened once, it probably happened with other words. Well, WHICH other words?

I guess you can see where this is going.

See what you can find out and thanks,
Sardith

[Perry Lassiter]

No research yet, but I always thought "flutterby" was an amusing pun-like invention, sort of a malaprop.

[Slava]

Sardith, your book is not reliable, at least on this matter. Butterfly comes from O.E. and was always butter and fly.

I'm not aware of any words that have changed in this manner. There are, of course, all the words that used to require a or an, and then they gave up their own n or stole one.

[Philip Hudson]

Yeah, in English, butterfly is butterfly: QED. How fortunate are the Spanish with their mariposa and the French with their papilon.

[sardith]

Thank you, Slava.

Your point is well taken, Philip, especially concerning the Mariposa. My husband and I lived near Mariposa, California for about ten years and were fortunate indeed.

Sardith

[eberntson]

German for butterfly is mainly "schmetterling."

And I think I read the same book a long time ago. Cute little legend.

E