Flutter Bee or Butterfly: You Be the Judge

Confessions of a Fake Linguist

As though I don’t already have enough things to waste my time on, about fifteen years ago I started dabbling in etymology— which, for the record, is not the study of bugs. I honestly thought it was. 

To be clear, I wasn’t trying to study bugs, but when I told a friend I was interested in word origins, he said it was called etymology. Etymology...word origin, entomology...study of bugs — same number of syllables, kinda sounds the same.

So yes, I began my casual but inquistive journey by confusing words with insects. And I know I’m not alone. Half the people reading this probably still think “etymology” is what happens when you swat a butterfly with a dictionary.

I’m not asking for a show of hands, you know who you are.

Speaking of butterflies, that’s where things really go off the rails. Linguist John McWhorter — brilliant guy, smooth talker, probably owns an ascot — insists that butterfly evolved from the Old English flutter-bee. I like that theory. It makes sense. A bee that flutters. A word that actually describes the thing it’s naming.

But other linguists say he’s dead wrong — and they’re furious enough to clutch their pearls and drop the Oxford English Dictionary on McWhorter's  foot.

And not the pocket version. The real one — which I found out weighs 138 pounds. That's a lot of dictionary to get dropped on your foot. If it ever happens, linguists will call it an etymological footnote.

And as my grandmother used to say, “Why is there never an etymologist around when you need one?"

Personally, I’m rooting for McWhorter. I want to live in a world where words make sense for once. Because if butterfly didn’t come from flutter-bee, then some medieval guy looked at a colorful insect thought it looked like butter?

​Well, they did drink a lot of mead back in the day. And what's mead anyhow? Can you buy it at the package store?

​And, would you believe I'm getting thousands of requests for the audio version of Paperback Writer? Would you believe hundreds of requests? No? How about one non-relative who asked me? Anyhow, I'm still working on it.

Notice the new, improved cover!
Makes a great gift for people who want to add a green book to their decor.

Those of you new to the blog may want to cruise on over to Amazon to check out the book. It's humor for people who have short attention spans, and are old enough to have watched Leave It To Beaver in its original run. Just click on the image below: