The Top Ten: Words that seem to derive from one language but actually come from another
From rigmarole and doolally to khazi and Sassenach...
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This list was suggested by Pablo Byrne, who had thought dilettante was French. (It's Italian)
1. Yoghurt
John Mullin pretended to think it was Dutch. It's Turkish.
2. Rigmarole
It looked Italian to Rich Greenhill, but he reports that it is from the 18th-century Kentish "ragman roll": a game in which descriptions of characters were written on a scroll.
3. Admiral
Appears to be Latinate, but is from Arabic, emir-al-, via Old French amiral. Saluted by Daniel Rivas Perez.
4. Svelte
May look Scandinavian but is in fact Italian (svelto, the past participle of svellere, to pluck out) via French, as Matt Paice points out.
5. Doolally
Looks like an Anglo-Saxon nonsense construction, but is from Deolali, a British Army transit camp in India where soldiers would spend time with nothing to do, says Matt Grist.
6. Craic
Not an original Irish word, says spoilsport Graham Ramsay. "Crack" was imported from English in the mid-20th century, when it assumed an Irish Gaelic spelling.
7. Khazi
John Dickens always thought it was of Arabic origin, but it is a 19th-century import from Italian, casa, a house, brothel.
8. Sassenach
From Scottish Gaelic "Sasunnoch", but that in turn is from the Saxon, "Saxons". From Dr Colin W.
9. Veranda
I thought it was Indian, which it is, but they got it from the Portuguese. Thanks to Barbary Spencington.
10. Que sera sera
It is not Spanish. It's closer to Italian, but incorrectly rendered. "Basically it's nonsense," says David Lea.
Next week: Original names of bands (Supertramp was called Daddy)
Coming soon: Sieges. Send your suggestions, and ideas for future Top 10s, to top10@independent.co.uk
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