Linguistic Similarities?

[debka_notion]

In the course of looking for definitions of love for my latest website project (Sparked by something Efi wrote, go figure), I was just reading some random stuff online, which was talking about how one older Greek word for "to kiss" (I originally wrote "kissing", but then I'd have to match it with the same sort of verbal noun later on, and "impregnating" just sounds Odd.) fell out of use because it sounded too much like the verb "to impregnate". I seem to remember a similar issue in French. Oh you linguists out there- know you if this is a common problem? (Either having those words sound alike, or having the slang for one mean the other) Any ideas if this might have something to do with actual etymology, or just coincidence?

Comments

[fleurdelis28.livejournal.com]

"Make love to" certainly doesn't mean what it used to. And there are those words in the Torah that you can't read out loud anymore...

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Heh- now I'm rather curious... The changing definition of "making love" I knew... (Collecting a list of terms for making out would be an interesting project. But if I started that one on my website, I'd have to do a few for less related things, or people would start getting very odd ideas about me, especially if I take that Carnal Israel class in the fall.)

[fleurdelis28.livejournal.com]

Yishgalenah being read as yishkavenah is the main one for inadvertant smut purposes. It's in the curses in the sixth aliyah of Ki Tavo, as well as in one of the haftorot for Sukkot.

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Luckily Hillel took care of that aliyah this year- although I was gabbaying, and didn't catch any issues- presumably it's 'corrected' in the chumash too, I guess.

But he did give someone the aliyah- I thought that usually either the torah reader or some particularly upstanding person in the community got that one? Steve is a good guy, but I don't think he's got That good a reputation...

[fleurdelis28.livejournal.com]

I've heard two theories -- either that the reader gets the aliyah to balance the curses, or the reader gets the aliyah (and is called up as Mishehu Rotzeh, not by name) so that it doesn't sound like he's cursing the oleh. Both of these entail the reader getting the aliyah, but since it's all custom I suppose there could be still more variations.