It's all Latin to us...

[rebness]

What started off as a little aside in my previous post became the sort of academic discussion that makes me come over all geeky and very, very happy. So, thanks to the doubly nefarious and splendid input of ozfille, verastar99 and saffronlie, here is more than you ever wanted to know about the naming of the months and the days of the week:

Months of the Year

January -- Janus, the two-headed God o’D00m (I bet he was an Aquarian. Go, us!)
February – After Februa, the Roman festival of purification
March – Mars
April– Aphrodite
May– Maia, the Italian goddess of spring
June– The goddess Juno
July – Julius Caesar
August– Augustus Caesar
September– Seven
October– Eight, duh
November– Nine, ditto
December – Ten, ibid

Days of the Week

English            French            Latin           Nordic

Monday            Lundi               Moon           Moon

Tuesday            Mardi              Mars            Tiw

Wednesday      Mercredi          Mercury       Woden

Thursday          Jeudi                Jupiter           Thor

Friday              Vendredi          Venus           Freya

Saturday          Samedi             Saturn           Saturn

Sunday            Dimanche         "Sun"             Sun

The link with the sun has been broken in French, but Sunday was called dies solis (day of the sun) in Latin.

It is interesting to note that also some Asiatic languages (for example, Hindi, Japanese, and Korean) have a similar relationship between the week days and the planets.

ETA: kyuuketsukirui informs me that Japanese also references the sun for Sunday, and the moon for Monday. Dude!

English has retained the original planets in the names for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. For the four other days, however, the names of Anglo-Saxon or Nordic gods have replaced the Roman gods that gave name to the planets. Thus, Tuesday is named after Tiw, Wednesday is named after Woden, Thursday is named after Thor, and Friday is named after Freya.

And so there we have it. Most informative LJ around, baby!*

*Possibly sheer hyperbole, and a lie, to boot.

Comments

[avariecaita.livejournal.com]

And as far as signs go - water makes up 70% of this planet called 'earth.' So there you have it, the water signs win!

[rebness.livejournal.com]

Right... let's see...

We could take on Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aries, Taurus, Leo, Gemini, Virgo, Scorpio and Libra.

Pisces is just a couple of fish. We'll beat them with our jug.

We still need a plan for Cancer. Those claws are really sharp, and Aquarians have weak ankles. :(

[avariecaita.livejournal.com]

Achilles must have been an Aquarian then. Also, we could just wash the crabs to shore and then blugeon them to death with our water jugs. Mmm, fresh crab!

[rebness.livejournal.com]

Achilles must have been an Aquarian then.

LMAO!!


Also, we could just wash the crabs to shore and then blugeon them to death with our water jugs. Mmm, fresh crab!

Sounds like a plan. It's time to take out the starry trash. >:)

[avariecaita.livejournal.com]

We really could rule the world, you and I. Too bad for all that lying about business. ;)

[rebness.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that sucks. I'm going to write a list of the things we need to accomp-- oh, forget it.

[avariecaita.livejournal.com]

Lists are a very eldest child thing to do. And, my lists are growing longer by the moment. G'damn lists! (Two things on there I can tell you about: Mail Holiday Cards and MAIL THE BLOODY HOLIDAY CARDS!!)

[rebness.livejournal.com]

But... *whines*... that's so much effort

It would involve:

1. Taking them off the shelf
2. Finding a pen
3. Writing good stuff
4. Switching the computer on and not getting distracted by the internet
5. Sealing the envelopes
6. Writing the addresses on them
7. Going to the post office
8. Getting stamps/weighed for international
9. Arguing that posting in Europe is not subject to the same strignent US stuff
10. Posting them

Waah.

I have to do it! I want to beat you, with your shades of dynamic Capricorn. >:p

[avariecaita.livejournal.com]

I just discovered (or just remembered, take your pick) that we're acutally an air sign. Odd.

I'm trying to remember this quote about 'good intentions' and saffronlie is no help. Quelle surprise. However, I know that it's quite fitting for our little situation. We need to send them out before Saturday. I've got them all written out, etc blah blah but I lack the fundage to send them. I get paid on Friday - hoorah!

I'm going to try and get away with massive amounts of glitter going to the southern hemisphere marked simply "cadeau" and see if it flies >:)

Oooooh, and have you thought of our other plan concerning other ... things? Cuz me? Not so much!

[rebness.livejournal.com]

Okay, let's make it a pact that we send them out before Saturn's day. (oh, the geekiness of me.)

Anyway, no, I forgot all about that, too. Let's pitch it to saffronlie and utilise her proactive soul to actually get it done. >:)

[saffronlie.livejournal.com]

It will require a preliminary report detailing my main obligations and estimated time required before anything can be added to my list. Evil plans require organisation, you know.

[rebness.livejournal.com]

Man, don't ask me... it took me three weeks to tell you about Mary, Queen of Scots. Help, avariecaita?

Or was it three months?