This Pomegranate Packs A Punch.

ROLCAM · Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:44 pm Post subject: This Pomegranate Packs A Punch.

This Pomegranate Packs A Punch.

Pomegranates have been receiving a lot of attention lately for their medicinal benefits. But the word "pomegranate" also inspired a word denoting something extremely harmful to your health -- "grenade."

The ancient Romans called this fruit "pomum grenatum" (apple with seeds), which became "pome grenate" in French. When a small missile was developed that scattered pieces of metal when it exploded, the French saw a similarity to the seeds of a "pome grenate" and dubbed the device a "grenade."

Another fierce military word -- "salvo" -- also began as a term related to health. "Salvus" meant "healthy" in Latin, and ancient Romans greeted one another with "Salve!" meaning "good health." Eventually, "salve" came to mean simply "hail!" or "greetings!" and it evolved into the French "salve" and the Italian "salva."

So when British navies developed the custom of greeting or saluting a dignitary by firing guns simultaneously or in succession, they called it a "sal vo." Eventually, "salvo" came to mean any coordinated or massive firing of guns, even when this was done in battle rather than in tribute.

Speaking of guns, "cannon" comes from the Greek "kanna" (reed) because a cannon, like the reed, is a long tube with a hollow center. A "bayonet" is named for the city of Bayonne, France, where these short, flat daggers attached to rifles were first used -- something to think about when you pass Bayonne on the New Jersey Turnpike.

The fact that warriors have often been paid to fight gives us the word "soldier." The Latin word for a gold coin was "solidus," which gave rise to the Old French word "soulde," meaning pay. "Soulde" inspired the Middle English "soudier," someone paid to be a combatant.

Some warfare is "internecine," and the origin of this word provides a useful lesson in misguided assumptions.

"Internecine" is derived from the Latin "inter" and "necare" (to kill). In Latin, "inter" usually means "between" or "mutual," but in this case, it was used as an intensive. So the original meaning of the English word "internecine" was marked by intense killing, slaughter.

But when Samuel Johnson wrote his famous dictionary in 1755, he interpreted the "inter" in "internecine" to mean "between" and gave the word a second definition: involving conflict within a group.
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Roland Camilleri

Moderator

Sydney , Australia.