Also "cut to the quick" = "cut to the level of living tissue": https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/to_the_quick#English
Re:Instant stone (just add water) (2018)
by nickloewen on Monday November 18, 2019 @02:29AM
(#21562538)
I didn't know other languages did this! In English "quicksand" seems to follow the same pattern.
Re:Instant stone (just add water) (2018)
by sudhirj on Monday November 18, 2019 @04:27AM
(#21562950)
Seems common in old English as well, have seen bible references, though I can’t remember them now, and phrases like “the quick and the dead”.
> [...] german ("quecksilber" -> quicksilver) [...]
In German, there's also quicklebendig – meaning "lively", "very active" – compared to lebendig, which means "alive", "living". It's slowly becoming outdated, though.
Re:Instant stone (just add water) (2018)
by dredmorbius on Monday November 18, 2019 @04:44AM
(#21563014)
The Online Etymological Dictionary (DDG bang !etym) is great for this sort of inquiry:
https://www.etymonline.com/word/quick
Similarly: quicklime, quicksilver, and quicksand.
Re:Instant stone (just add water) (2018)
by riffraff on Monday November 18, 2019 @05:43AM
(#21563264)
ah! "quicksand" makes much more sense to me now, in italian they are just called "mobile sands" which seemed much more reasonable :)
Re:Instant stone (just add water) (2018)
by dredmorbius on Monday November 18, 2019 @02:11PM
(#21567191)
OED has given me many "ahhh!" moments.
Vodka being "little water" being a fave.
Re:Instant stone (just add water) (2018)
by swish_bob on Monday November 18, 2019 @04:48AM
(#21563034)
Most obvious in English when you're talking about "the quick and the dead".
Re:Instant stone (just add water) (2018)
by zipwitch on Monday November 18, 2019 @10:07AM
(#21564830)
It may be obvious to those of us with an interest in etymology, but when the phrase came up in my tabletop gaming group (ages 18-50), they were unanimous (save for myself) that the meaning was "the fast and the dead". I had to resort to a web search to convince them otherwise.
Re:Instant stone (just add water) (2018)
by loco5niner on Monday November 18, 2019 @01:03PM
(#21566510)
Probably due to things like the movie "The Quick and the Dead" about fast vs slow gunfighters.
Re:Instant stone (just add water) (2018)
by swish_bob on Friday November 22, 2019 @06:52AM
(#21604761)
But that's a pun! It's literally the whole point!
Re:Instant stone (just add water) (2018)
by TheGallopedHigh on Monday November 18, 2019 @03:37PM
(#21567913)
Could possibly also be a play on words...
In Lithuanian mercury is "gyvsidabris" which is just portmanteau of "gyvasis sidabras"—literally "the living silver".
Quicklime is different—"negesintos kalkes" which means "unextinguished lime".
Re:Instant stone (just add water) (2018)
by speedbird on Monday November 18, 2019 @05:27AM
(#21563189)
Also quicken - current use is "to make faster" but older form is "to come alive"
Re:Instant stone (just add water) (2018)
by harimau777 on Monday November 18, 2019 @07:59AM
(#21563937)
Quickening is also the point in pregnancy when the women can first feel the infant's movements.
Re:Instant stone (just add water) (2018)
by riffraff on Monday November 18, 2019 @09:43AM
(#21564634)
oh, the "quickening" in the highlander movies makes some more sense now too, thanks.
"Argento vivo" is identical and also obsolete in Spanish. "Cal viva" is very much alive though.
In my hometown we also have "aguaviva" (living water) for jellyfish.
It's interesting because I now see the same pattern is used in old italian (mercury is "mercurio" but also "argento vivo", living silver, and calcium oxide is "ossido di calcio" but also "calce viva", living lime).
As far as I understand, in hungarian ("fürge ezüst" -> "lively silver") and german ("quecksilber" -> quicksilver) the same pattern exists for mercury, though I didn't find the calcium carbonate equivalent.
I imagine there is some shared (alchemic?) tradition there, and I wonder what other "alive" things exist.