WotD: tonsils

[muckefuck]

1. die Tonsillen, die Mandeln
2. de keelamandelen
3. las amígdalas
4. les amígdales
5. les tonsilles
6. y tonsiliau
7. na céislíní
8. 편도선 (扁桃腺)
9. 扁桃腺 biǎntáoxiàn

7. The only word which can't be traced back to an etymon meaning "almond". I believe it may be a diminutive of céasla "paddle", but I'm not really sure.

Comments

[areia.livejournal.com]

I've never heard them called that. Apparently keelamandelen is used to distinguish them from tongamandelen, lingual tonsils. I've definitely always just called them amandelen.

Having them removed is amandelen laten trekken, to have your tonsils pulled, though that may be a regional thing.

[pne.livejournal.com]

I've never heard "Tonsillen", FWIW.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

I suspected it might be medical jargon, like "Mononukleose".

[itchwoot.livejournal.com]

I know Tonsilitis as a medical term for Mandelentzündung, so that might be it.

[tisoi.livejournal.com]

#3 and #4 remind me of

[tanagers.livejournal.com]

That is awesome. I never thought of the etymology of tonsil before, but now it makes a lot of sense. Thanks.

[gorkabear.livejournal.com]

A second Spanish/catalan version: anginas/angines - this is actually how we call them around here.

Funny thing is that you realize that an "angina de pecho" is more severe than a bad strep throat.

One of my earliest memories is when I got mine removed at 3. It was in very bad hospital (closed since 1980) in Cornellà

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

A Brazilian friend of mine said Queen Amidala's name always caused a great deal of laughter in her country.

[aadroma.livejournal.com]

Erm ... I hafta ask: is there any rhyme or reason for tonsils being "anginas"???

Yeah, here I go again.

[aadroma.livejournal.com]

JAPANESE: 扁桃, hentou, "sweet almond" -- these days written only in kana; へんとう腺, hentousen, "almond gland".
HEBREW: שקד, shaked, "almond"; usually plural; shares a root with a verb meaning "to strive" or "to work diligently".
BASQUE: amigdala, borrowed from Spanish.
CHEROKEE: ᏚᎴᏥ, duletsi. Also "goiter". Beyond that, this word is an absolute mystery. It doesn't take the plural, any possessive suffixes, NOR does it take any "body part suffixes" (like "hat", "eye", "hand"), making it a true anomaly in the Cherokee language. I have no idea where it comes from, and most sentences I've seen using it require the speaker to use a passive-dative construction (as all references I see refer to them being removed).
RUSSIAN: миндалина, mindalina -- again, almond (4 out of 5!). Usually plural when referring to the body part.

[gorkabear.livejournal.com]

angina.

(Del lat. angīna, de angĕre, sofocar).

1. f. Inflamación de las amígdalas o de estas y de la faringe. U. m. en pl. con el mismo significado que en sing.

2. f. pl. coloq. amígdalas.

~ de pecho.

1. f. Med. Síndrome caracterizado por accesos súbitos de corta duración con angustia de muerte y dolor violento que desde el esternón se extiende ordinariamente por el hombro, brazo, antebrazo y mano izquierdos.


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I didn't know!