Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2022 November 13

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November 13

Nymph as insect

Why and when the word nymph was borrowed to describe an insect life stage? My quick search was inconclusive. 212.180.235.46 (talk) 11:02, 13 November 2022 (UTC)

Etymology Online dates it to the 1570s, with no direct indication of why.[1] However, the idea of an "adolescent" seems to fit. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:30, 13 November 2022 (UTC)

My copy of the 2nd-edition OED indeed has a quotation from a 1577 book as the first illustration of this sense. As for the why question, it also includes a quotation from a 1747 book on ants: "They are called Nymphs in allusion to Brides, because when they leave this State, they are often arrayed in Gayety and Splendour." Make of that what you will. Deor (talk) 15:59, 13 November 2022 (UTC)

Collective noun for names like Heywood Jablome?

Or Ben Dover? Bumptump (talk) 17:45, 13 November 2022 (UTC)

WHAAOE: Heywood Jablome. --Wrongfilter (talk) 20:40, 13 November 2022 (UTC)

See also Pun#Books never written: "What Boys Love by E. Norma Stitts". Alansplodge (talk) 23:14, 13 November 2022 (UTC)

Or Jean Norma, presumably... 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 02:53, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

??? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:57, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

I thought about ginormous, but I had missed that gi- was pronounced with the diphtong as in 'eye'... 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 20:19, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

also: Sophomoric humor. Xuxl (talk) 14:26, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

We need a more inclusive title than that; I don't think we have sophomores (I had to look it up). Alansplodge (talk) 18:15, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

"Sophomoric humor is that which is juvenile and puerile". Presumably, you have juveniles where you live... --Jayron32 19:00, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

Indeed, so "Juvenile humor" might be better understanded of the people. BTW, the usual British term is "fourth-form humour" (i.e. Year 10, 14-15 year-olds) so apparenty our juvenile comedians are more advanced. Alansplodge (talk) 13:43, 15 November 2022 (UTC)

P. J. O'Rourke once said that "sophomoric" is a liberal's code word for "funny". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:57, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

What a puerile joke.  --Lambiam 09:57, 15 November 2022 (UTC)

How many of your books made the NY Times bestseller list? :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:48, 15 November 2022 (UTC)