Vodka is not made from potato only. It can be made from most cereals, and also from fruits. In fact, in the various Slavic countries vodka is made from the most abundant raw material: potatoes in Byelarus, maize in Bulgaria, etc.
The word VODKA is derived from an ancient Slavic word that meant "Little Water". That would be voduchka in modern Russian.
Hi Antonio,
We do not use maize to make vodka in Bulgaria
We use all kinds of fruit to make rakia like plum rakia, grapes rakia, apricote rakia
I believe rakia comes from Greek, but I am not sure
A couple of things the Old Doc knows about are "rakia" and "vodka." "Rakia" actually comes from Turkish but is probably used throughout the Balkans, including Greece.
Vodka is not only made from potatoes and grain, but from fermented bread, too. Most home-made vodka, called samogon "self-distilled," is made this way. It usually has a distinct flavor not unlike a rakia called "grappa" in Italiy.
The word, indeed, is an old diminutive of voda "water" which, in turn, comes from the same original root as, not only "water" (wat+er), but "wet," as well.
Although I am only a Slav by association, I do believe the -ka suffix not only indicates a diminative form of a word, but also connotes an endeared or precious quality.
As such Vodka is not only "little water", but also "precious water". ;D
Everytime I learn a new word for "strong drink", usually referring to the more potent in any language, the derivation always ends up with the word meaning "water".
Examples that come to mind are:
Whisky - Uisque Beatha - The water of life
Ouzo - (Greek) I think this is connected with water, it certainly sounds right.
Aquavit - Swedish - not so difficult to spot this one.
Eau de vie - definitely not to be confused with eau de Cologne :)
The Swiss make all sorts of powerful drinks, as often as not from various different varieties of plum, such as Pflümliwasser, Zwetschgenwasser and so on. No prizes for guessing what the suffix "wasser" means!
I feel certain that other Agorans can come up with some more on this theme.
I would like to add that the Portuguese word for eau de vie is aguardente, and the Spanish word is aguardiente. Both words mean "burning water". I believe the Americans call it firee water.
[quote author=Antonio link=board=etymology;num=1028302364;start=0#6 date=09/02/02 at 14:42:20]the Spanish word is aguardiente.
I was confused in Chile by the existence of a snack meal called onces. This translates as "elevens" so I naturally associated it with the antique English tradition of "elevenses", served at 11am. But I discovered that onces were served at 5pm. The story goes that onces was originally slang for the 11 letters of aguardiente - indicating a stiff drink after work.
Originally, people would drink Pisco at 5 p.m., and so they would say "Vamos a tomar las once letras". Now they eat instead of drinking, but the euphemism stuck.
When were you in Chile? My ex-wife is a Chilean, and I was there in 1987.
[quote author=granthutchison link=board=etymology;num=1028302364;start=0#7 date=09/02/02 at 18:45:58]This translates as "elevens" so I naturally associated it with the antique English tradition of "elevenses", served at 11am
Who are you calling antique?
Certainly, I have consumed "elevenses" in my younger days. Strangely, the idea of elevenses being "served", struck me as incongruous. This snack, typically eaten at any moment of peckishness between breakfast and lunch, was prepared in advance and carried until needed in a school satchel, brief-case or whatever.
The Swiss have an equivalent word, but because they tend to start their working day earlier than others it is called "Znuni", suggesting that it should be eaten at nine. Although I have never come across it, I find that my dictionary tells me that the German translation is ‘zweites Frühstück’ (second breakfast). This is terribly boring but does at least allow one the freedom to take it as and when the need arises with being castigated for poor time-keeping.
[quote author=DerekB link=board=etymology;num=1028302364;start=0#10 date=09/10/02 at 15:06:28]Strangely, the idea of elevenses being "served", struck me as incongruous.
The phrase "elevenses" always conjures up an image of ladies sitting down in the drawing room to tea and scones, for me. But you’re right, of course, that the expression probably has greater antiquity as a working snack you lugged yourself. Apparently there was a companion term "fourses", for the afternoon equivalent.
At my school, though, the technical term for these was just "snack"...
We uphold the Great British tradition of elevenses in my office by breaking out a packet of dry roasted peanuts every day at 11am. Not quite as impressive as in days gone by, but it certainly fills a mid-morning hole.
I always thought that the afternoon equivalent was high tea, of tiffin (although yD.com lists this as midday).
This has got me thinking about the names for different meals. I’ve noticed that in GB there seems to be a regional and generational difference between calling the midday meal "lunch" (southern and/or younger generations) or "dinner" (northern and/or older generations.
To me it should be:
Breakfast
Elevenses
Lunch
Tea (eg cup of tea & cake or biscuit when work is over)
Dinner
Supper (kebab on the way home from the pub :o)
Obviously I don’t have them all every day (well maybe on special occasions ;D)
[quote author=Dedalus link=board=etymology;num=1028302364;start=0#12 date=09/11/02 at 12:44:00]I always thought that the afternoon equivalent was high tea, of tiffin
Now high tea is definitely *served* - I can’t imagine anyone having high tea in the form of an office snack. Fourses was an afternoon snack meal. Tiffin was a British Raj light lunch, according to the OED. The old farm-workers had a portable equivalent called mid-yokin’ - a yoking being a work period, because the oxen were in harness for that length of a time.
[quote author=Dedalus link=board=etymology;num=1028302364;start=0#12 date=09/11/02 at 12:44:00]This has got me thinking about the names for different meals. I’ve noticed that in GB there seems to be a regional and generational difference between calling the midday meal "lunch" (southern and/or younger generations) or "dinner" (northern and/or older generations.
In my part of Scotland, at least, it’s a social class thing: blue-collar of all ages have "dinner" at mid-day and a light "tea" around 6pm, with maybe supper before bed; white-collar have "lunch" at mid-day and a larger, later "dinner" in the evening. I was brought up in the former system, and now work in the latter, so I’m so confused I just never have dinner - it’s breakfast, lunch, and a sort of late tea for me.
I was brought up to understand that lunch was the meal generally eaten in the middle of the day, whilst tea was the evening meal. Dinner was the main meal of the day and could occur either mid-day or in the evening. In NZ we also have breakfast, morning tea, afternoon tea and supper. Obviously we have very hobbit-like habits: why else do you think that LOTR was filmed here?
