Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 beta 3/9/83; site mot.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!harpo!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!hao!noao!terak!mot!al From: al@mot.UUCP (Al Filipski) Newsgroups: net.misc,net.jokes,net.nlang Subject: Re: Good Old Times (really origin of "dollar") Message-ID: <177@mot.UUCP> Date: Mon, 1-Jul-85 12:24:24 EDT Article-I.D.: mot.177 Posted: Mon Jul 1 12:24:24 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 5-Jul-85 05:15:04 EDT References: <196@persci.UUCP> Organization: Motorola Microsystems, Phoenix AZ Lines: 23 Xref: watmath net.misc:8187 net.jokes:13078 net.nlang:3328 In article <196@persci.UUCP> bill@persci.UUCP writes: >By the way, does anybody know the origin of the word 'dollar'? I've never met >anyone who does. The nearest word to it is the Spanish (Latin?) 'dolore', >which, I'm told, means 'pain'. In time-honored net tradition, I won't bother to look this up, but I seem to recall that "thal" is a germanic stem meaning "valley", whence we get words like "dale" and "Neanderthal". The connection is geographic, where a monetary unit acquired the name of the place that issued it, which happened to be in a valley. -------------------------------- Alan Filipski, UNIX group, Motorola Microsystems, Tempe, AZ U.S.A {seismo|ihnp4}!ut-sally!oakhill!mot!al allegra!sftig!mot!al ucbvax!arizona!asuvax!mot!al -------------------------------- In this vale of toil and sin your head grows bald but not your chin. -- Burma Shave