#The Project Gutenberg eBook of Grimms’ Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm

[thinksandthings]

butterfly

There is a ton of variation in the word for butterfly between different languages, and they’re all actually really interesting. Butterfly, the modern English version, seems to be derived from the Old English buttorfleoge, which is essentially of the same morphological breakdown, being "butter" + "fly." However, more interesting than the words themselves is the story behind them. 

According to folk mythology (some credit the Brothers Grimm, but I couldn’t find it specifically referenced in their stories) butterflies were actually witches in disguise who feed on butter left out on windowsills. This theory shows up in some older German cognates, like milchdieb “milk - thief” and botterlicker “butter - licker.” 

Another version of the story says that they’re actually named after the yellowish color of their poo, which is supported by the now obsolete Dutch cognate boterschijte which is literally “butter - poo.” Although this was all over the internet, I had a hard time reliably verifying this one, but it’s kinda funny either way. 

I might write a few more of these for different languages, mostly because there are a lot of beautiful mythological associations with the soul and the psyche, but the one English ended up with makes them out to be vaguely spooky milk nibblers. 

#etymonline.com #The Project Gutenberg eBook of Grimms’ Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm #wordhistories.net #wiktionary.org #etymologeek.com #collinsdictionary.com #insects #fun facts #history #Dutch #Proto-Germanic #Old English #moths #words #icysedgewick.com #wings #nature #witches #folktales #folklore #myths #legends #i thought this would be really cute but i just think its so funny