I had been confused about why Physical Therapy on horseback was called Hippotherapy. It was sort of a reverse-confusion. "Hippo" means "horse" in Latin. Ok, so why is a "horse" a "horse" and a "hippo" a "hippo?"
Tony's response: "A horse is a horse, of course, of course."
Tony's dweebish-ness sometimes gets to me....
Someone--let's give her the credit: Belita--gave me a valuable piece of information: "hippopotamus" really means "water horse." Ok, I get it. Why some genius thought the hippopotamus in any way resembled a horse, I have no idea. But that clears up the translation problem. At least the first part.
The second half of the word puzzles me. "Potamus" has something to do with water. We call good drinking water "potable." So there's a connection, but I doubt "potable" really means "able to be water."
So my question, for all of you who have access to an OED or some other relevant piece of reference material, is this: what exactly is the translation for the root word, "pot-"?
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hippopotamus
1563, from L.L. hippopotamus, from Gk. hippopotamus "riverhorse" (earlier ho hippos ho potamios "the horse of the river"), from hippos "horse" + potamos "river, rushing water" (see petition). Replaced M.E. ypotame (c.1300), which is from the same source but via O.Fr.
"Ypotamos comen flyngynge. ... Grete bestes and griselich" ["Kyng Alisaunder," c.1300]
"Thanks, www.etymonline.com, without you I'd probably be dead."
So, you're saying the Latin comes from the Greek??
That's what www.etymology.com says, and nobody argues with them!
Nobody GOES there, either, if they have SpyWare Doctor protecting "cookies," as my Dr. Spy calls them. I wonder when I will find all these yummy treats so I can eat them...!
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