To newbies here...I have yet to receive an good attempt at an
explaination.Any takers?

Did the word 'elephant' spontaniously appear, or did it evolve... (letter by
letter ? :-)).

Was there a day in history where, in the mornning it didnt exist, but in the
evening it did? If so, what happened on that day.?

What have you "herd" ? :-)

BOfL

On Sun, 25 Nov 2007 23:47:41 GMT, "brian fletcher" bigpond.net.au> wrote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant
The word "elephant" has its origins in the Greek word for "ivory".

On Nov 25, 4:01 pm, Sir Frederick fuzzysys.com> wrote:

elephant: c.1300, olyfaunt, from O.Fr. oliphant, from L. elephantus,
from Gk. elephas (gen. elephantos) "elephant, ivory," probably from a
non-I.E. language, likely via Phoenician (cf. Hamitic elu "elephant,"
source of the word for it in many Sem. languages, or possibly from
Skt. ibhah "elephant"). Re-spelled after 1550 on L. model. As an
emblem of the Republican Party in U.S. politics, 1860. White elephant
(1851) supposedly arose from the practice of the King of Siam of
presenting one of the sacred albino elephants to a courtier who had
fallen from favor; the gift was a great honor, but the cost of proper
upkeep of one was ruinous. To see the elephant "be acquainted with
life, gain knowledge by experience" is an Amer.Eng. colloquialism from
1835.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=elephant&searchmode=none

"brian fletcher" bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:xQn2j.17036$CN4.4177@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

I am pretty sure that it came about pretty suddenly, probably from the rib
of a mastadon or something like that. (The mastadons themselves, of course,
never got on the ark).

Scott

On Nov 26, 4:47 am, "brian fletcher" bigpond.net.au> wrote:

Idle speculation will get us nowhere, since this concerns etymology
and the existing documentation of languages.

On Nov 26, 1:47 am, "brian fletcher" bigpond.net.au> wrote:

This is NOT about etymology is it? What's on your mind then? I like
the idea of a word evolving letter by letter though, discarding the
difficult to pronounce consonents, keeping it current to ensure its
future survival.

"brian fletcher" bigpond.net.au> wrote:

Something related... I used to work nights at a convenience store, and
people would come in all the time and tell some joke or make some pun
that I had heard a million times before... And every one of them thought
they were being original, or at least unusual.

Who makes up jokes like that? They have hundreds of authors, each of
which believe he is being completely original, but of course none of
them are.

"brian fletcher" bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:xQn2j.17036$CN4.4177@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

The wise guru Matuka Mahabsarraattahata Swami Pentiumanditihi Tukituki was
strolling down the Ganges one sunny spring morning when the word just came
to him. And he had never seen an elephant. It was just enlightenment. I
thought you'd know this, Brian.

"Errol" gmail.com> wrote in message
news:d85f5f75-b7e5-4b56-a7dc-412c30307720@i12g2000prf.googlegroups.com...

"Daniel T." earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:daniel_t-98DF7E.07253026112007@earthlink.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net...