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eftychia: Me in kilt and poofy shirt, facing away, playing acoustic guitar behind head (Default)
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Blame it on the theophylline I ingested earlier...

posted by [personal profile] eftychia at 02:04am on 2005-07-16 under ,

Random thought while I'm awake enough to be bothered by such thoughts but not awake enough to feel up to writing the various things I keep meaning to get around to writing:

Why isn't the word 'caffeine' spelled with a 'K'?

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There are 9 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
 

(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] rendancer.livejournal.com at 06:26am on 2005-07-16
hmm... I don't know...
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] realinterrobang.livejournal.com at 08:46am on 2005-07-16
There are often no answers to "why" questions asked about languages. :) Isn't that a happy thought?
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] rendancer.livejournal.com at 09:59am on 2005-07-16
but why? ...hey, you had it coming!
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] keith-m043.livejournal.com at 01:49pm on 2005-07-16
I'm guessing the chemical was first isolated by a scientist whose native language's word for coffee is 'cafe'
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] rendancer.livejournal.com at 09:31pm on 2005-07-16
hehehe
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Because K is much maligned

posted by (anonymous) at 01:52am on 2005-07-17
Kaffeine is something the Nazis would put in their Koffee.
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Re: Because K is much maligned

posted by [identity profile] dglenn.livejournal.com at 03:20pm on 2005-07-18
Actually, that's spelled "kaffee". And is the reason I was wondering.
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] silmaril.livejournal.com at 03:04pm on 2005-07-18
Why aren't "coffee," "car," or "cat"?

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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] dglenn.livejournal.com at 03:20pm on 2005-07-18
When I looked up the etymology, it said "caffeine" came from "kaffee", the German word for the beverage. That's what made me think it should start with a 'k'.

Then again, if the German word for the chemical is "kaffeine", as would make sense, and "caffeine" is merely an anglicization of "kaffeine" instead of being directly derived from "kaffee", that would, I suppose, answer my initial question. Hmm. I know a couple of German-speakers I can ask...
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