6th August 2010, 10:29 AM
Pearl, perle, perlen are still commonly used to describe any bead, not just oyster-spit.
I posted a quote provided to me by an archaeologist, which is all I can do as I am not an expert in dead or even dying languages. Bacca can be as easily berry or seed or anything else that was threaded, sometimes language is a shorthand rather than a rigid thing. As for female anatomy, the term 'spindle whorl' is used by some people I know as slang for calling someone a descriptive but opprobrious name. Sometimes a raven IS like a writing desk, and sometimes it's just a bird.
If you have other variations on the theme of what to call something with a hole in it, feel free to offer your versions.
I posted a quote provided to me by an archaeologist, which is all I can do as I am not an expert in dead or even dying languages. Bacca can be as easily berry or seed or anything else that was threaded, sometimes language is a shorthand rather than a rigid thing. As for female anatomy, the term 'spindle whorl' is used by some people I know as slang for calling someone a descriptive but opprobrious name. Sometimes a raven IS like a writing desk, and sometimes it's just a bird.
If you have other variations on the theme of what to call something with a hole in it, feel free to offer your versions.
Prime practitioner of headology, with a side order of melting glass with a stern glare.