It struck me that I couldn't think of a liquid equivalent for 'to starve to death'. 'Parch' and 'thirst' don't seem to fit, and certainly aren't in (common) use in the same context as starve. No one I asked at the bar could think of any equivalent. I decided to check it ahhht...
I found a discussion on the same subject online. It petered out before a conclusion was reached. Something interesting I discovered, which has never crossed my mind but which seems startlingly obvious now, is that the word starve comes from the old English 'steorfan' related to the Germanic 'sterben' (to die) and Dutch (Fries) 'sterven' (to die). Thus even to starve to death, at it's root, means to die to death.....which makes it applicable to dying(starving) of thirst anyway.
...kinda.
So, the upshot is that I've not yet discovered or thought of a word which is used like starve (for food) for 'thirsting' to death. Or maybe I have! :o)
Though it probably doesn't count because you were looking for a one word description...
ReplyDeleteI think it's called "death by- or dying of dehydration" (just the word dehydration doesn't count either cos it's not necessarily fatal).
Also.. the origin of the word makes total sense, but only since you pointed it out. Thanks for that (i find that sort of thing fascinating).
Yeah, I (kinda) agree with you and Karen (on Facebook) about dehydration or to dehydrate, but still you wouldn't really use it in the same way. Or I wouldn't anyway. The very fact that this is a check it ahhht indicates that there isn't an immediately satisfactory answer.
ReplyDelete...unlike that for "What is the literal translation of 'gezellig' in English?".
Yeah, I'm spoilin'!
Another food (or lack of it) related word that has Germanic (more specific Dutch) origins is the word 'snack'.
ReplyDeleteToday i learned from a program about the Dutch language on our digital history channel that 'snack' entered the English vocabulary through our presence in New York (then Nieuw Amsterdam). It derives from the Dutch word 'snakken' which means craving (snakken naar... = craving for...).
They pointed out a few other words as well, but somehow only this one stuck. I do know New Yorkers tend to call 'steps' 'a stoop' cos we call steps 'een stoep'. And yankees comes from 'Jan Kees' cos all them Dutchies are called either Jan or Kees (and some of them perhaps even Jan-Kees).
My word! That's cracking stuff. You already forewarned me on the snack thing, which is awesome information in itself. But Jan Kees? That's gold dust!
ReplyDeleteThis is fascinating. I'm performing the exact same search for a word to describe dying of thirst. I'm guessing that, as you haven't found one, I can avoid hours of struggle and assume there isn't a word, at least in English.
ReplyDeleteCheers