Nightmare? e Etymology of e Sleep Deprived

English when it was spelled ni t-mare and has since changed to its current spelling. e etymology of the word nightmare tells us that the word is Germanic in origin and has a negative and dark connotation.

So what exactly is etymology? Well, etymology is the study of the history of words, and how they have changed throughout history. Etymology explains the origin of the word, and why the word has changed. Etymology came from the Greek word, etumologia, etumos meaning true, and logia meaning the study of something. Etymology was first used in 1790 by Wilhelm Tissot, who wrote down a recipe for a cup of coffee. He called it, “Capuzinerkaffe” and that word has now changed into cappuccino. e word night, meaning “the period of darkness after day,” derives from similar words in many Germanic languages. A few examples are the word “nacht” from middle Dutch and the word “nocht” in early Irish. ese words both have the same meaning as the word night that we currently use. e spelling of the word night has changed throughout its use in the English language. In Middle English around the year 1450 the word was spelled “nyght”; then transitioned to its current spelling in the 1600s. e use of the word night in nightmare emphasizes the fact that a nightmare occurs when it is dark and there is no light. Darkness also adds to the fear associated with nightmares because many people are scared of the darkness associated with night. Night is a word commonly used in writing to symbolize something negative or eerie. For example, when people think about ghosts or crimes it is imagined that they occur in the darkness of night. Hamlet wrote “I am thy father’ s spirit, doomd for a time / To walke the night,” implying that the night was a time when spirits would be out haunting people. e word mare stems from Germanic and Slavic folklore. ey say that it brings bad dreams by riding on people’ s chests while they sleep suffocating them. Mare has many different spellings like “mære” which is Old English, “mara” which is Old German and Old Norse, and “marrie” which is Old Dutch. But in many

other languages, it’ s always been spelled “mare”. All of these words mean the same thing, they just have different spellings. Mare in nightmare belabors that nightmares are frightening. In Scandinavia, the tale goes as this; the king broke his promise of returning to his wife within three years. After ten years had passed, his wife hired a sorceress to bring him back or kill him. e king then said when he went to sleep, the “nightmare rode him” and it would seize his feet so he couldn’t move and press down on his head like it was trying to kill him. e word nightmare is a combination of the words night and mare. e two separate words come together in the English language to form the word we know and use to refer to our bad dreams. Both words are derived from words in early Germanic languages. ey both have a negative and dark connotation so bringing them together emphasizes the dreaded terror that comes along with some of the worst nightmares. e mare is an evil spirit that visits you in your sleep and suffocates you, which is extremely similar to the terrifying things that often appear in people’ s nightmares. e word night needed to be added to make it known that this occurs when it is dark, and people are asleep. Combining the two words also creates clarity to someone who may not know the folklore behind the word mare. is combination definitely creates a dismal connotation to the word nightmare itself; it is a word that is never used in a positive context unless it is being used to bring down the mood. roughout etymological history, the meaning of the word nightmare and even the words night and mare that make it up have not really changed. Now, the word nightmare itself may change in the future but the meaning will also be the same, like it always has been. ese two words together are meant to express that nightmares are supposed to scare you; they’ re not supposed to be a good dream. Whether your worst nightmare is an essay, a crime, or something else, knowing the chilling etymology of nightmare will leave you more prepared for what is about to come.

No Cap: History of “Cap”

S C, M R, A P

The meaning of the slang word “cap” is to lie or exaggerate something, and the slang use of this word just became popular in the past year. In the early 1900s, “cap” was created as a slang word, yet had an alternate meaning that meant to reach the limit or to surpass something; this has recently changed to the new meaning and is very well known to the teenagers in today’ s society. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the definition of “cap” is “A hood, a covering for the head”. is word originated from Latin word cæppe in 1000AD and has transformed from Old English to Modern English. rough our research of these three definitions, we will see how each meaning of the word is used in its respective time periods. e original meaning of “cap” is referring to a hood, a covering for the head, this is what people know today as a hat. is term is more frequently used today rather than the term “cap”, making the original definition less relevant. e linguistics of the word “ cap” has changed from Old English to Middle English. e Oxford English Dictionary definition of cap is different from the Urban Dictionary definition and slang term for cap in the way that the slang version means to lie about something or to exaggerate. According to Dictionary.com, the origin of the slang