April Fool's and Maundy Thursdays (No, this isn't a joke).

Hello, friends. This is not a joke. This is a real, honest-to-life post.

Stop.

Consider.

Appreciate.

I know that it has been quite a while since I last posted, stating my intention to post often on interesting words and life. However, as time has gone on, I have often found that that seems a bit too much like extra work. It's not that I haven't been encountering interesting words or that I haven't been looking up interesting word etymologies. In fact, I have become known by my friends around here for suddenly dashing upstairs in the middle of a conversation to look at a word's etymology in my lovely Shorter Oxford English Dictionary set. Yes. I am that much of a nerd :-).

The weather has been beautiful the past few days, and as I was walking home today, I was thinking about how interesting that today was both April Fool's and Maundy Thursday. Then I got to thinking about the words "Fool" and "Maundy" and now here I am.

Let's start with the fools.

"Fool" entered the English language Middle English, (first mentioned in print in approximately AD 1275) which, not suprisingly, came from French, which ultimately got it from the Latin follem, follis. Literally, the Latin meant "bellows" as in the things you used to fan flames of a fire. This word quickly became associated with the idea of "windbag", or a person who's head is empty and is dim-witted. It had this association even in late Latin!! So the next time you think someone's an air-head, remember that that association has been made for a long time.

Now for Maundy. For those of us who are celebrating Easter this weekend, most of us know that tonight is the night for church services which commemorate the Last Supper and Jesus' washing of his disciples feet. This word "Maundy" also has its root in Latin and entered the English language about half a century after "fool" (Maundy first appeared in texts circa AD 1325). It comes from the Latin phrase mandatum novum (a new commandment), referring to Jesus' words to his disciples in John 13:34 ("A new commandment I give to you: Love one another") at the Last Supper. With this in mind, it's easy to see the similarity to our word "mandate" or even "command". Over time, this phrase became the name for the actual ceremony at which those Latin verses were read and thus "mandatum" became the "Maundy" in Maundy Thursday.

So best wishes as we enter the Easter weekend and try to not be too foolish on Maundy Thursday.

-- Amy