There is a term for scrutinizing every word you see
The languages each started in, their growth and history
The study of the lore behind our terminology
Might seem a bore, but wait there’s more to “etymology.”
You ever wonder why some words are difficult to spell?
Why silent letters hide in terms like knife, unique, and knell?
How words with different jobs were born from roots that were the same,
Like carnival and carnivore, or corps and corporate claim?
See, English comes from different places all around the globe.
While most are Greek or Latin based, sometimes it pays to probe.
When you can see how English came from all around the world
You feel a kind of kinship to see all our flags unfurled.
Take Alcohol, for instance, it’s of Arabic descent.
And noodle comes from Germany, and France gave us regret.
Now take the word erotic and dissect it to its roots.
Its origin is Eros, the god of knocking boots.
But England didn’t grab the term from Grecian dudes of old;
it came ala langue française—that’s French for French, I’m told.
And even “etymology” derives from history.
It started out “etymos,” which means truth in Ancient Greek.
One last point about how words were grown from common seeds:
Once you understand the source you’ll know what new words mean.
So investigate your language and break out your fine toothed combs
Now grab your favorite looking glass and be like Sherlock Holmes.