• Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    4 hours ago

    On behalf of all the Welsh people I know would you have a problem with “cac” rather than the Dutch based (?) “kak” in this word?

    • samus12345@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      4 hours ago

      “Kak” is from Greek. “Cac” is an alternate spelling coming from the same root via French, as in “cacophony” or

      • Klear@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        3 hours ago

        I’ve recently started coming up with new words by changing eu- (meaning good) into caco-. You get some great ones like:

        • cacophoria
        • cacovangelium
        • cacogenics
        • cacology
        • cacophemism

        And my favourite, cacothanasia.

      • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        3 hours ago

        Interesting. I know “kak” from Afrikaans and “cachu” from Welsh. I’ve never seen the word definitively derived from Greek; I always believed the root was from PIE language. What do I know?

        • samus12345@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          3 hours ago

          I looked up the Dutch “kak” and that’s pretty funny. It means “bad” in Greek, but the Dutch meaning still works great - rule by the shittiest people.

          • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            3 hours ago

            Yeah - I assumed “shit (people)” was what we were going for; “k” doesn’t exist in Welsh so I asked for the alt spelling. Cacophony then translated as “shit sound” in my head - which again, kind of, works. Language is difficult.