7/12    What is the etymological connection between Anglo-Saxon (English)
        and Anglo-Franks (French)?                      -history dumb
        \_ There is no such thing as Anglo-Franks.  Anglo-Saxon refers to
           the descendents of the bilingual Vikings who hacked their way to
           Britan, who later also hacked their way to this country.
           \_ I think they sailed.
        \_ Rather long and complicated, but the gist is that English is based
           on Germanic roots rather than Roman roots so English and French are
     in reality from completely seperate linguistic families. However, because
           of the constant invasions and migrations of peoples through the
           British isles English has become a mishmash of Germanic and Romance
          languages, hence the weird spelling of certain words and the usage of
           certain French terms that are only found in English.
           \_ Case in point.  In English, words for livestock are native, while
              words for livestock meat are French.  The reason: during the
              Norman invasion, the gentry were all French, while the peasants
              were English.  The peasants grew livestock, and the gentry ate
              it. -- ilyas
                \_ wow I never noticed that, that is really interesting.
                   tell us more ilyas!!!
                   \_ obTellusaboutthestarsilyas!
                      \_ obw00t!
              \_ Isn't it also why the English words for things are
                 considered dirty (i.e. fuck)?
                 \_ Va t'enculer.
                 \_ The history and etymology of 'bad language' is an
                    interesting subject.  I think it's an oversimplification to
                    say 'fuck' is only bad because the prissy normans didn't
                    like the short stubby anglo words for things.  'Fuck'
                    comes from German 'Ficken' I think, which means to
                    bludgeon.  The word is 'bad' perhaps because it implies
                    intercourse is a kind of violent act. -- ilyas