this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2024
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When the fuck did we start singing "shit"? (files.catbox.moe)
submitted 5 months ago by Blaze@reddthat.com to c/dataisbeautiful@mander.xyz
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Source: https://chrisdallariva.substack.com/p/when-the-fck-did-we-start-singing

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[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 2 points 5 months ago

I think that it's a parallel development. It's unlikely to be a borrowing from some PIE descendant because

  • Proto-Germanic shifted PIE *k into *h (Grimm's Law), so the word would end as *hahha. Plus a direct descendant of the word isn't even attested in Germanic languages [see note].
  • Proto-Balto-Slavic and its descendants show a single consonant in that word, as PBS *kākā́ˀtei (see Latvian kakāt, Russian какать/kakat'). The result would be *kaka or *kakaa. (A double consonant often becomes single, but the opposite is rarely true.)

*NOTE: before someone mentions German "kacken", it's likely a borrowing from Latin "cacō" I shit. Now that's some borrowed shit!