Well not to ruin a good time in the shower but neither. In middle English an "eke name" meant "another name". Over time it became a neke name, and from there a nickname.
The n from "an" transferring to the other word is always amusing to me and what's more amusing is that it's not the only time this has happened (a napron -> an apron)
At one point i thought "enlies" was a word because of how i was hearing the phrase "therein lies the problem." I was hearing it as "there enlies the problem".
If you want the real answer, from Middle English neke name, alteration (due to a rebracketing of an ekename as a nekename) of earlier ekename (“nickname”), from eke (“additional”) + name.
29 Comments
Angryhumanoid@fedinsfw.app · 99 pts · 32d
Well not to ruin a good time in the shower but neither. In middle English an "eke name" meant "another name". Over time it became a neke name, and from there a nickname.
Contramuffin@lemmy.world · 31 pts · 32d
The n from "an" transferring to the other word is always amusing to me and what's more amusing is that it's not the only time this has happened (a napron -> an apron)
Babalugats@feddit.uk · 13 pts · 32d
an orange
TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 32d
a norange
Beacon@fedia.io · 11 pts · 32d
At one point i thought "enlies" was a word because of how i was hearing the phrase "therein lies the problem." I was hearing it as "there enlies the problem".
jarvis@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 32d
Works the other way too. (an otch -> a notch)
too_high_for_this@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 32d
I once convinced a co-worker that the opposite was true for napkin, that they were apkins before.
Also told him pockets were pock-ettes and pants used to have giant pocks that hung outside like saddlebags.
my_hat_stinks@programming.dev · 7 pts · 31d
That's surprisingly not that far off, modern pockets evolved from bags tied to belts and the word comes from "poke", meaning pouch.
Hawke@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 32d
My nuncle has an eke name.
ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 32d
Great question by OP, and a great answer here.
inlandempire@jlai.lu · 7 pts · 32d
funny that we went full circle with "aka"
Davel23@fedia.io · 6 pts · 32d
A.K.A. is an initialism for "also known as". No relation.
inlandempire@jlai.lu · 10 pts · 32d
yeah i mean i just thought it was funny that people used
eke namebefore, to mean "another name" and now we useakato mean "also known as"Davel23@fedia.io · 3 pts · 32d
Fair enough.
partofthevoice@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 32d
BDYKWIATTTYRN?
Leviathan@fedinsfw.app · 2 pts · 30d
Crazy that I got this without trying.
MangoCats@feddit.it · 3 pts · 32d
I thought it was a name somebody nicked (appropriated) and placed on somebody else.
xoggy@programming.dev · 2 pts · 30d
another name... "an other" name
GandalftheBlack@feddit.org · 33 pts · 32d
If you want the real answer, from Middle English neke name, alteration (due to a rebracketing of an ekename as a nekename) of earlier ekename (“nickname”), from eke (“additional”) + name.
ndupont@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 31d
Robwords (or was it Words Unravelled?) explained that one
xoggy@programming.dev · 2 pts · 30d
History of English podcast, mother of all etymology tangents. Highly recommended.
Toto@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 32d
It was originally “knickerbocker” name but got shortened over time
I’ll take no further questions
thenextguy@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 32d
It’s just something your father thought up while he was shaving.
roofuskit@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 32d
Mo-nik-er
Nik-name
Nickname
gandalf_der_12te@feddit.org · 2 pts · 31d
is moniker called moniker because it's a NIcK name or is nickname named after moniker?
magnetichuman@fedia.io · 2 pts · 31d
Who's Monica? Is she a friend of Nick?
TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 31d
What if Dick had been a popular name…
gandalf_der_12te@feddit.org · 0 pts · 31d
67 rule btw
TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 31d
Now it’s at 69.