You all know what a sledgehammer is, right? So how about a sledge? Most of you probably know that one as well, but since it's an uncommon word, I'll give you a definition. A sledge is a sled.
Yeah, it's just that simple. Sledge evolved into sled over time, originating in the 16th century in Dutch. From there the word was adopted by English, and while we use sled in America now you'll still hear sledge used in Great Britain.
So what is a sledgehammer then? Seems simple and confusing at the same time. It's got the word sledge right there in it, butted up against hammer. So it's a hammer used with a sledge. Why you would need to use a hammer on a sled is where it's a little confusing. Do you use it to hammer your way out of ruts? Or is it used in assembly? Yeah, that makes sense. The Dutch had a special hammer to assemble a specific style of sled back in the day, and the term just carried on without ties to anything when that style of sled went out of production. Now we just use it to refer to any really big hammer. Chock up another victory for deductive logic, English speakers! Now let's go celebrate our victory with...
FACE-PUNCH!!!!
So you thought you could reason your way around the origin of a word, did you? Well, you were WRONG! Language doesn't work like that.
Sledgehammer is a German word originally, and comes to us all the way through Old English. It's much older than the Dutch sledge, and totally unrelated. The original word was slecg, or slægan, and among its decendands you find words such as slag, or slay. That's right, sledgehammers are basically slay-hammers, etymologically speaking.
And for those of you who were wondering, yes, I recognize the irony that when spoken that could also be sleigh-hammer, further confusing the issue. But you're still wrong. Sit back down.
Slægan had one meaning that basically translates to 'strike violently', and that's where the correlation comes in. A sledgehammer is a hammer used to strike something violently, and was used to refer to hammers involved in smelting. Smelting ore produces slag, of course, revealing another correlation, and eventually we started using these big hammers with long hafts to kill people. Slay.
So there you go. Actual meaning revealed, and it turns out to be less exciting than your original made up meaning. That's life for you. If you've learned anything though, it's that you should always check your dictionary before deciding you know where a word comes from and making a cute meme about it. Remember, when you think you've figured out how language works, just stop. Sit down, lay your head on the table, and cry.
Because you'll never figure out how language works.
Yeah, it's just that simple. Sledge evolved into sled over time, originating in the 16th century in Dutch. From there the word was adopted by English, and while we use sled in America now you'll still hear sledge used in Great Britain.
So what is a sledgehammer then? Seems simple and confusing at the same time. It's got the word sledge right there in it, butted up against hammer. So it's a hammer used with a sledge. Why you would need to use a hammer on a sled is where it's a little confusing. Do you use it to hammer your way out of ruts? Or is it used in assembly? Yeah, that makes sense. The Dutch had a special hammer to assemble a specific style of sled back in the day, and the term just carried on without ties to anything when that style of sled went out of production. Now we just use it to refer to any really big hammer. Chock up another victory for deductive logic, English speakers! Now let's go celebrate our victory with...
FACE-PUNCH!!!!
So you thought you could reason your way around the origin of a word, did you? Well, you were WRONG! Language doesn't work like that.
Sledgehammer is a German word originally, and comes to us all the way through Old English. It's much older than the Dutch sledge, and totally unrelated. The original word was slecg, or slægan, and among its decendands you find words such as slag, or slay. That's right, sledgehammers are basically slay-hammers, etymologically speaking.
And for those of you who were wondering, yes, I recognize the irony that when spoken that could also be sleigh-hammer, further confusing the issue. But you're still wrong. Sit back down.
Slægan had one meaning that basically translates to 'strike violently', and that's where the correlation comes in. A sledgehammer is a hammer used to strike something violently, and was used to refer to hammers involved in smelting. Smelting ore produces slag, of course, revealing another correlation, and eventually we started using these big hammers with long hafts to kill people. Slay.
So there you go. Actual meaning revealed, and it turns out to be less exciting than your original made up meaning. That's life for you. If you've learned anything though, it's that you should always check your dictionary before deciding you know where a word comes from and making a cute meme about it. Remember, when you think you've figured out how language works, just stop. Sit down, lay your head on the table, and cry.
Because you'll never figure out how language works.
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