Tag: history

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Day 3- Etymology: What’s in a Name? #write31days 2014

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Term of the day: etymology: study of the evolution or changes within words’ history.  

Thoughts:

I like the idea that words change and evolve and not just because of the existence of urban slag. The dictionary used to seem to be this static entity, but I know now that it is ever-changing and evolving. Gay, short for gaiety, still means joyous and happy, but now it also means homosexual, thanks to Cary Grant dressed in a woman’s bathrobe. Of course, that’s a story for another day.

Name of the day: Giovanni.

Breakdown and meaning:

With both Hebrew and Italian origins, Giovanni is either a “gift from God” or “God is gracious”. So why this name you ask? This is the name of my hero, the star of my Eternal Curse Series. In book one, Eternal Curse: Giovanni’s Angel, Giovanni discovers who he is and the meaning of his name, as well as how it all ties in together.

Well, that’s it for Day 3. See you tomorrow.

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Go back to the beginning to see all the posts in this series.

Outside of my own personal search throughout the years, basic meanings and definitions of the terms used here can be found at the following websites: http://www.meaning-of-names.com/, Google search http://en.wikipedia.org/, and  http://dictionary.reference.com/.

Learn more here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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31days

Day 2- Onomastics: What’s in a Name? #write31days 2014

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Term of the day: onomastics: the study of names, their origins and how they are formed within a given language.

Thoughts:

I’m glad to know that there is an official name for this, for two reasons. 1. It means that I’m not the only one interested in this subject matter. There have been enough people throughout history to require the distinction of a name for this pursuit. 2. I always feel somehow saddened by the possibility that there’s something out there without a name. It almost brings me to tears when I think of people being inflicted with rare diseases that haven’t even been named yet or when a new place is discovered and the people there haven’t bothered to give it a name. Silly perhaps, but that’s me.

Name of the day: Toinette J. Thomas (me).

Breakdown and meaning:

This is my full name, but for publication purposes I go by Toi. Also, I find that using Toi goes better with the name of my site and blog. The ToiBox of Words sounds much better than Toinette’s box of Words; but what does my name mean?

Let’s start with the J. It’s one of the favorite parts of my name, but I don’t share it a lot. I don’t have a problem with people knowing my middle name, but I like the fact that most of the people who do know it, know me fairly well or intimately. The J-name, which I will not reveal here, is derived from two other names; that of my grandmother and an a great aunt, but when put together has a very French sound. When combined with the unique spelling of my first name and my former surname (Douglass), people often mistook me for French. Obviously these people hadn’t met me yet.

Toinette, while derived from Antointte, is actually a misnomer. My mother wanted to name me Toynet, but her family told her it wasn’t a good name so she changed it. She and every one in my family calls me Toynet even though that’s not how my name is spelled. From its derivative, Toinette means flourishing and is the feminine form of the French name, Antonie.

Thomas means twin and has both Hebrew and Dutch origins intermingled with Biblical inspiration. Thomas is considered a good strong name among the Christian community and a powerful name in many other cultures.

Well, that’s it for Day 2. See you tomorrow.

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Go back to the beginning to see all the posts in this series.

Outside of my own personal search throughout the years, basic meanings and definitions of the terms used here can be found at the following websites: http://www.meaning-of-names.com/, Google search http://en.wikipedia.org/, and  http://dictionary.reference.com/.

Learn more here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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31days

Day 1- The Button: What’s in a Name? #write31days 2014

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“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” ~William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliette.

I would not consider myself an obsessive type, but I must admit that I am fascinated with origins and meanings of words and names. There’s a name for it you know, but I’ll save that topic for another day…Already thirsty for more? Check out this link on “obsession” to wet your whistle.

For the next 30 days I’ll be writing about the meaning of names and some words. While I will be focusing a great deal on myself and the characters I’ve created, I’ll be relating it all to everyday life and things that I find interesting, and hopefully you will too.

This is Day 1 so I figured I’d explain my button in case anyone hadn’t yet quite figured  out what I was thinking when I made it.

The image is a visual remark on the complexity of the English language. In it we see a bow, a bow, a bow, and two people bowing. Then there is the mention of Beau, not someone’s lover or boyfriend, but he could be.

You see, the spelling of each of these words is the same, but the meanings and even the pronunciations can be very different. Am I a total geek or is this really cool?

Well, that’s all I have for today. Please see below for a preview of what I’ll be sharing all month-long. Links will not be active until the posts go live, but go ahead and peruse them anyway. They are all active now.

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Day1– The Button | Day 2– Onomastics | Day 3– Etymology| Day 4– Nomenclature
Day 5– Namesake | Day 6– Character | Day 7– Branding | Day 8– Blessing
Day 9– Curse | Day 10– Alias | Day 11– Nicknames | Day 12– Identity
Day 13– Meaning | Day 14– Function | Day 15– Description | Day 16– Calling
Day 17– Titles | Day 18– Suffix | Day 19– Prefix | Day 20– Affix
Day 21– Label | Day 22– Personality | Day 23– Signature | Day 24– Voice
Day 25– Language | Day 26– Orthography| Day 27– Moniker
Day 28– Spiritual/Religious Names | Day 29– First Name
Day 30– Surname | Day 31– Names

Outside of my own personal search throughout the years, basic meanings and definitions of the terms used here can be found at the following websites: http://www.meaning-of-names.com/, Google search http://en.wikipedia.org/, and  http://dictionary.reference.com/.

Learn more here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords