this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2026
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Science Memes

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[–] degen@midwest.social 4 points 1 day ago

Unironically, what about Blizz?

[–] imsufferableninja@sh.itjust.works 118 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] tyler@programming.dev 32 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The exact sentence I came to post. Apparently we all think alike.

[–] Davel23@fedia.io 15 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] kionay@lemmy.world 28 points 3 days ago
[–] melvisntnormal@feddit.uk 36 points 3 days ago (2 children)

ahh so that's why charizard is so hot

[–] tryagain@sopuli.xyz 12 points 3 days ago

¡Más chorizo!

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[–] jedibob5@lemmy.world 53 points 3 days ago (4 children)

So a lizard must be an excess of Liz?

[–] MonkeMischief@lemmy.today 36 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Oh no, people are gonna start being called "Rizzards" soon.

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[–] Asetru@feddit.org 2 points 2 days ago

And a leopard?

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[–] superfes@lemmy.world 65 points 3 days ago (2 children)
[–] athatet@lemmy.zip 17 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Shit piss fuck cunt cocksucker motherfucker tits fart turd and twat

There you go. I cust too much.

[–] degen@midwest.social 2 points 1 day ago

I will always appreciate the blink182 version

[–] BigBenis@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

Jean-Luc Pic

[–] FosterMolasses@leminal.space 31 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 54 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)
[–] cori@lemmy.blahaj.zone 53 points 3 days ago (1 children)

people who confuse entomology and etymology bug me in ways i can't put into words

[–] tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 23 points 3 days ago
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[–] stray@pawb.social 35 points 3 days ago (5 children)

It's not "too" something; it's just being strong (hardy) or remarkable in that trait. A lot of sources list it as derogatory, but it isn't so in all instances of use.

A wizard is not too wise, but very wise. Renard or Reinhardt is someone who gives good advice or makes good decisions.

The "must" in mustard is juice and pulp which you intend to ferment, because grape must was an ingredient. There's a lot of debate over whether the "ard" is the one in this post or ardens (burning).

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

The "must" in mustard is juice and pulp which you intend to ferment, because grape must was an ingredient. There's a lot of debate over whether the "ard" is the one in this post or ardens (burning).

So the mustard seed was named after (as in post) the condiment?

[–] stray@pawb.social 2 points 1 day ago

Yes. It's not too unusual for that sort of thing to happen. Feverfew and lungwort are plants named after their medicinal uses, and the tea plant and rubber tree are named for what they produce. Wheat means white, referring to the ground flour.

A lot of things might have had other names before a use was discovered, or they just might not have been named by anyone yet. I think most plants have probably had lots of different regional names within the same language. Flowers seem to collect a lot of names; I think they make us poetic because they tended to interact with human culture in many ways.

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[–] psycho_driver@lemmy.world 23 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Today I learned I might be too ret.

[–] Khanzarate@lemmy.world 18 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The root means "slow", BTW, so it does get to join that list.

[–] bryophile@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I'm no expert at this, but it seems to be the suffix here is 'tard' not 'ard', coming from Latin.

The root already has tard in it, from Latin retardare. It also has the word tard in it, French for late. Retard also means late in French.

Does anyone here know? This post also had me wondering about retard.

[–] CaptPretentious@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago (2 children)

They bring up wizard... But what about bards?

[–] Minizarbi@jlai.lu 26 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Too b or not too b

[–] FuyuhikoDate@feddit.org 3 points 1 day ago

They are just Too much... Ask every DnD Master.

[–] MurrayL@lemmy.world 25 points 3 days ago (2 children)

See also: haggard, laggard, braggart (this one changed to a ‘t’ for some reason), dastard, dullard, and a few others. It’s uncommon but it’s out there!

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[–] VivianRixia@piefed.social 43 points 3 days ago (1 children)

So, calling someone a bast-ard, implies that their mother slept around on many beds that weren't the marriage bed. Does that mean it all comes back to calling your mother a whore?

[–] rockerface@lemmy.cafe 42 points 3 days ago (5 children)
[–] drosophila@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I think in English there is also:

  • Comparing the subject to an animal, such as a dog.
  • Slurs for various minorities.
  • Names for 'vulgar' body parts, or the act of sex itself.
  • Names for human waste products.
  • Literal 'curse words', such as "damn" or "hell", which imply the subject will go to, or just allude to the existence of, the Christian hell.
  • Literal swears, as in oaths. This is pretty rare in modern English aside from "I swear to god... ". The word "gadzooks" is actually a minced version of "God's Hooks" (the nails used in the crucifixion), which was probably shortened from "I swear on God's Hooks". Its pretty funny how something that was probably deadly serious in the past has been diluted so much that now only cartoon characters say it.
  • Literal profanity, as in invoking the holy in an improper context. This has a lot of overlap with the previous two categories.

I don't really know anything about linguistics, but these seem like the categories to me. In addition to the "alludes to the sexual impropriety of the subject (if female) or the subject's mother (if male)" category.

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[–] Jessica@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 2 days ago

Hazard is apparently too much danger

[–] Chais@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 days ago

Also

  • dull
  • boll
  • mall
  • stand
[–] fibojoly@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 days ago

Un animal de bât is indeed a pack saddle animal, and bâtard is indeed a bastard so that's pretty cool. Never realised the connection! -ard in French is also often a negative suffix, like connard which would be a... "cuntard" if you will.
-asse is the feminine variant, although there are inconsistencies, such as pétard / pétasse which are probably related but one is a firecracker, while the other is a tart (the lady kind)

Rude language is always so much fun!

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 33 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

This is largely true. English takes '-ard' from Old French. MW defines it as:

one that is characterized by performing some action, possessing some quality, or being associated with some thing especially conspicuously or excessively

The main point is that it's generally just a pejorative suffix.

Citing the Trésor de la langue française informatisé, however, Wiktionary puts forward a surprisingly cogent counterargument and alternative etymology to the "packsaddle" one for "bastard".

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[–] Hupf@feddit.org 27 points 3 days ago (1 children)
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[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 27 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

The -ard is basically "fucking" + nominaliser (if necessary):

  • wizard - fucking wise one
  • drunkard - fucking drunk one
  • coward - fucking tail (the initial part is from Old French "coue" tail, itself from Latin "cauda" tail. Who shows the back in a fight? Someone running away!)

The "nominaliser" part is an artefact of the borrowing, the suffix is from French. Romance languages often use adjectives as if they were nouns, but that doesn't quite roll in English. In turn French borrowed it from Frankish, it's apparently cognate of English "hard".

The etymology of "mustard" is disputed. The first part is likely from Latin "mustum" must; it used to be prepared with young wine. The -ard is typically explained as ardens (fiery, hot). So basically "mustum ardens" hot must. ...Capsicum peppers are from the Americas, black pepper and long pepper were expensive, European mediaevalards didn't really have a lot of spicy flavours to work with, so... I guess mustard was spicy for them?

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[–] Slovene@feddit.nl 3 points 2 days ago

So Richard is too rich? Is that why he's a Dick?

[–] Paulemeister@feddit.org 15 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] specimen@lemmy.world 15 points 3 days ago (3 children)

I think there’s a wacky Japanese comic book about this

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[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

I’ve heard that the term “son of a gun” has a similar origin.

See, when a sailing vessel would visit port all the whores would row out to meet it. They’d be hauled into the gun ports and… ply their wares.

Since they didn’t know who in the gun crew was the father, their boys were “sons of a gun”

[–] shrugs@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

What about retard? SCNR

[–] null@lemmy.org 18 points 3 days ago (4 children)

So when people call me a retard they're saying I'm overly moist?

[–] GreenShimada@lemmy.world 24 points 3 days ago

That you have an excess of Ret, not Wet.

C'mon, retard, figure it out.

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[–] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 13 points 3 days ago

“-ard” would mean not so much “excessively” as “by their/its nature”; i.e. a seed/condiment whose very nature is mustiness, a person conceived out of wedlock (which was considered a black mark on one’s character back then), one who is habitually drunk, and so on

[–] SailorFuzz@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago
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