Equestrian Etymology

This though just randomly came into my head while writing.

The word "manual". I was thinking about the different vocabulary that Ponies use compared to us. They don't say "hand, person, -one, or man" and since manual has "man" in it, I did some research to see if it would be changed by Equestrian Etymology.

Apparently I had it completely wrong, as manual comes from latin "manus", meaning hand.

So it turns out that the word would change, just not in the way I originally thought.

So using the latin word for hoof "Ungula", I had the idea to make the word "Ungual" for people to write with. Then I decided that this was all stupid, and that nobody would ever understand if I used that word in my writing.

Whatever, that was just my little thought today.

Comments

[TheAncientPolitzanian]

I've definitely considered similar things in the past. It would be kind of interesting to go over-the-top with it and put way too much effort into making everything etymologically accurate, but it seems like far too great of a hassle.

Point being, it's certainly an interesting thought!

[Tirimsil]

The first thing to consider is that ponies might not speak English. Ponies generally don't write in English et al, but in bizarre horse runes. The only time writing is actually in human language is when it's important that the viewer can understand it directly. This implies that they speak in some exotic horse-language that is expressed to us in English (and other featured languages) so that the cartoon makes basic sense.

The second thing to consider is that even if ponies do speak English directly, beyond Twilight herself they wouldn't even know the etymology of a word, let alone care about it, unless they are infinitely more stick-up-the-butt than human beings are.

• Alicorn is, originally, the substance that makes up a unicorn horn. This word was largely forgotten by the time Piers Anthony saw it in a fantasy magazine referring to a statuette of a winged unicorn. His use of it spread the word in this new definition all over the world in several languages, from which it made its way back to English some decades later.
• Like in this thread, most English-speakers have no clue that manual literally means worked by hand. They also don't know that mano a mano means hand-to-hand, not man-to-man. That's because hand is a Germanic word, and only Latin-based languages still have a manus-like word as the regular word for a hand.
• menstrual and all related words derive from words for the moon, because people thought (and very few still think) women's cycles were synchronized to phases of the moon.
• A nightmare was originally a sleep paralysis-like experience where a person felt like they were suffocating or someone was sitting on them. The mare in this case is an ancient concept of a female demon similar to a succubus and is unrelated to horses.
• Sarcasm derives from a Greek verb referring to tearing flesh off the bone, which was used as a metaphor for harsh speech. Also, sarcasm used to refer to a mocking tone of voice (regardless of what was actually said), but now refers to verbal irony due to generations of people being too dumb to understand this.
• Sinister means untrustworthy or evil. It's derived from sinistral, meaning left-handed, because left-handers were thought of as aberrant and evil.
• Weird or wyrd originally meant "in control of destiny". Shakespeare's Wyrd Sisters gave it the connotation of being unearthly or ghostly, which gradually corrupted into its modern definition of unconventional, bizarre, or creepy.

I'm making that list too long but the point is it does not matter in the slightest what the etymology of a word is, this is not a hard limit on its meaning even a hundred years or two down the line, and manus et al are much older than that.

Ponies would know what hands are, because minotaurs, centaurs, griffons, and hippogriffs all have them, and at least two of those creatures are familiar visitors to the ponies by the time Friendship is Magic begins. All are Greco-Roman creatures, so whether we think Greek, Latin, and English are actually in pony-world or it's a necessary creative liberty, there's no practical reason to say that manus absolutely can't have an influence on the vocabulary. And just like most English-speaking humans have no clue manus means hand, most English-speaking ponies should have no clue manus doesn't mean hoof.

The main reason MLP messes with vocabulary is because cringy horse puns are mandatory for a horse cartoon for six-year-olds. I'm so glad Pony Life was so short so I don't have to hear stupid Rarity's "oh my hoofness" ever again.

[Conglomerate]

5638727

"oh my hoofness"

I haven't even seen a lick of Pony Life, and now I'm glad I haven't, and I will continue to avoid it.

[Tirimsil]

5659951

It's actually an okay show, but it looks demonic, has frantic crackhead pacing, and not all of the jokes land - all of this is because it's aimed at an even younger audience than Friendship is Magic was. And yes, OH MY HOOFNESS is revolting and Rarity says it like she's trying to start a hashtag.

It has exactly two fart jokes in it.