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Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)

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Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)

#31

Post by laborcontract »

WJW wrote: post #12

First comment on the answer: > This is quite the most extraordinary stack exchange answer that I've ever seen. And I couldn't agree more. Well worth perusing if you (like me) usually only check the comments on HN.

In this case, only checking the comments on HN brings about a feeling of dismay at the sad state of comments on HN.

People should indeed read the top answer. I assumed it ended after the first paragraph and only after your comment read the rest of it. Quite a rabbit hole and great investigation!

Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)

#33

Post by messe »

nomilk wrote: post #17

The most upvoted answer gives the explanation the ball manufacturer is Swedish ('axe' in Swedish starts with a 'y'), but other answers say it was probably manufactured in a country where English wasn't the first language (e.g. China) and the 'y' for axe was simply a typo. The evidence against the Swedish explanation is that the ball says c for 'cat' and d for 'dog', but in swedish the translations are 'katt' and 'hun…

My thinking is that somebody who is not a native reader/writer of the latin alphabet, or English, confused h/y and the picture denotes a hatchet.

Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)

#34

Post by messe »

linuxftw wrote: post #30

My personal theory is double translation of sorts. The item in question could be a 'hatchet.' Many romance languages use 'j' for the 'h' sound in English. Somebody somewhere was looking at 'jatchet.' Next, someone assumed that the j was pronounced 'y' as in a Germanic language (and also Semitic?). Thus, they ended up with 'yatchet.' Of course, 'y' is right next to 'h' on a qwerty keyboard, so it could just be a typo…

> Of course, 'y' is right next to 'h' on a qwerty keyboard, so it could just be a typo if they're going for hatchet.

I could also potentially see somebody, not entirely comfortable with reading/writing latin script, mixing them up as the glyphs aren't entirely dissimilar.

Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)

#36

Post by sebzim4500 »

nomilk wrote: post #17

The most upvoted answer gives the explanation the ball manufacturer is Swedish ('axe' in Swedish starts with a 'y'), but other answers say it was probably manufactured in a country where English wasn't the first language (e.g. China) and the 'y' for axe was simply a typo. The evidence against the Swedish explanation is that the ball says c for 'cat' and d for 'dog', but in swedish the translations are 'katt' and 'hun…

The most upvoted answer doesn't say that it's a Swedish designed ball, rather that it is a Chinese knockoff where they moved things around and replaced some of the symbols with ones from books/toys for Swedish kids.

Hence why the ones that match the 'official' ball make sense in English but the ones that don't make more sense in Swedish.

Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)

#38

Post by primitivesuave »

WJW wrote: post #12

First comment on the answer: > This is quite the most extraordinary stack exchange answer that I've ever seen. And I couldn't agree more. Well worth perusing if you (like me) usually only check the comments on HN.

I wholeheartedly agree as well. The only nitpick I'd have on this incredible dissertation is on the "U" association with "U-boat" - this is an anglicized form of the German word "Unterseeboot" (undersea boat) which was itself shortened to "U-boot" (presumably the etymology of the Swedish "ubåt"). The first known use of the term "U-boat" is 1914, while the Germans and Swedish armed forces were commissioning submarines around a decade prior (in 1906 and 1904 respectively).

Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)

#39

Post by saaaaaam »

notpushkin wrote: post #26
codetrotter wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the past tense of yeet, yate or yote, or yeeted?

I’d go with yeet/yet/yet, like meet (the confusion makes it even better). “Yotten” does look peculiar, though.

Meet moot met mitten

So it’s probably yitten.

Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)

#40

Post by dylan604 »

callumprentice wrote: post #32

I don't think that's an axe, I think it's a (poorly drawn) tip of a tube of YELLOW paint.

that's creative, and now I see it this way too. if only the "tube" was oriented so the "paint" was more lined up with the mouth. that would make for an awkward yaxe though
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