I thought of this in the shower, then deleted it when someone in a discord I asked it to eventually said duh it’s Michael Jackson, and another replied Michael Jordan you dumbass … oof … but then while deleted it got upvotes somehow so whatever lol

  • phubarr@lemmy.world
    3·
    1 day ago

    I’d love to know why you know these terms. I’m a huge etymology nerd and I eat this stuff up.

    This entire thread begs the question, why do some people have a first name for a last name? Is it just a less-clear patronym?

    • deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz
      2·
      1 day ago

      I too am an etymology geek, I had to look up “aptronym” (I already knew there was a word for it, but couldn’t remember it) but already knew “patronym”. I can occasionally work out the approximate Latin roots of words and take a stab at what to search for.

      Regarding names’ positions moving around… that’s just people. People name their children all sorts of stupid things that eventually become normal.