• @[email protected]
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    115 months ago

    Equinox… equine ox… a horse-like cow.

    This has been today’s That’s Definitely Where The Word Comes From, No Need To Look It Up.

    • @[email protected]
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      85 months ago

      Nah, its “equi+nox” = nuts that split in half. Or possibly serves of poison (like in noxious).

      • @[email protected]
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        5 months ago

        Also wrong. It means Equine (horse) Nox (not) - literal translation: Not Horse (Day). Traditionally this was a day that farmers would let their horses rest, and the humans would perform the laborious tasks normally left to horses. Such as, pulling ploughs, taking hauls from the market home, etc.

        • @[email protected]
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          75 months ago

          That actually listens. Its (almost) opposite end of the year to Melbourne Cup Day, when horses work harder than usual. So it all balances out. I like this theory.

    • @[email protected]OP
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      55 months ago

      now you bastards have made me look it up

      directly from Medieval Latin equinoxium “equality of night (and day),” from Latin aequinoctium,