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The Capuchin monks were great benefactors to the wide world of etymology. In the sixteenth century CE, there was an argument among the monks of the Franciscan order, and one group split off from the whole to be more devout and religious. The Franciscans were understandably upset and hit the secessionists with the worst insult they could find: "little hoods", which translated into medieval Italian as cappuccios and was meant to pejoratively describe the brown monk hoods they wore. The name stuck, and stayed in the minds of initial explorers to the Americas, who found monkeys with brown hair on top on their heads not unlike the Capuchin order's hoods. Thus a species of primates was named after monks- the Capuchin monk-eys. Later still, when they started putting milk in coffee, they named the cappuccino what it is because of the color the beverage took- the same as Capuchin hoods.
Therefore, next time you go to Starbucks, enjoy a monkey.
2 Comments
Ken Bone
11/15/2016 09:36:28 am
Check out mortgage it has a really interesting etymology!
Daniel Kim
7/31/2018 08:33:52 pm
The Capuchin monkey also has a distinctive 'cap' of dark fur on the top of its head, sharply delineated from the lighter fur on the lower parts of its head. This cap resembles the shaven tonsure on a monk's head, indicating vows of celibacy (cutting of hair is said to be symbolic of castration in certain Freudian analyses). This, along with the color of its light brown fur, contributes to the 'cappuccino' resemblance. Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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AUTHOR
Adam Aleksic, a freshman studying linguistics at Harvard University, has been described as the internet's sixth most famous etymologist. He has disturbing interests in words, vexillology, geography, board games, limericks, and law, and he loves writing about himself in the third person.
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