“English doesn’t borrow from other languages. It follows them dark alleys, knocks them out, and goes through their pockets for loose words.” This quote came from a tee shirt, noted on Wizbang.

I have been thinking a lot about the English language and the borrowing of words recently. I think it is because my boys read so much. Then they start using words they know from reading, only their pronunciation is a bit unique.

Once someone asked me about the “-ox” sound. I figured all the words came from the same language. But they didn’t.

ox is Old English
lox is Yiddish
box is from Latin
fox is from Old English
pox apparently from Middle English, 1476, a misspelling of pocks

Did you know that “sox” is listed as a US variant for “socks”?