It's already October. It's early.
Today I am going to write about something that you may or may not know about. Sometimes I have to write about unimportant things to let off steam, otherwise I can't do it.
My knowledge, which I will share with you, was acquired from my French teacher at the university I attended almost 30 years ago. A story about the calendar.
However, many years have already passed since I heard this story from my teacher. I cannot be held responsible if, in the meantime, it turns out that "in fact, this theory was false. Please do not be offended.
At the beginning of this article, I wrote, "It is already October. The tenth month in English is "October. Everyone knows this, right?
What is the English word for the octopus that lives in the sea? It is "Octopus. The first four letters of the word are the same as "octopus. Then, what exactly is "octo"?
Octo" means "eight" in Greek. And "pus" means "leg. In other words, the octopus' characteristic "eight legs" was used as its name.
But this brings up a simple question. If "Octo" means 8, then it is natural that "October" should be the 8th month. But in fact, it is the 10th month. Why? (Don't ask me what the "ber" after octo means.)
The reason for this, the teacher told us, is due to the transition of the Western calendar.
In the past, the ancient Roman calendar used the year as 10 months. But one day, the Romans thought, "Let's change the calendar from counting the year as 10 months to 12 months! The Roman calendar used to count the year as 10 months, but the Romans thought, "Let's change it to 12 months! (Don't even ask why they did that!). (Don't even question why they did that.)
When the movement to revolutionize the calendar took place, "July" and "August" were inserted after "June" in the current English language. It was only natural, since you have to add two months to ten months to make twelve months.
And since "October" was originally the "eighth month," "July" and "August" are now in front of it, which puts it two months behind. The result is that the "tenth month" has become the "tenth month". As a result, it became the "tenth month.
With the addition of these two months, "September," originally the seventh month, became the ninth, "November," originally the ninth, became the eleventh, and "December," originally the tenth, became the twelfth. December", which was originally the 10th month, became the 12th. They all shifted back two months.
Let us now take another look at the monthly spellings that had to be moved back.
September --- "sept" is French for "seven.
October---"8". This is as noted above.
November --- "nove" is the Italian word for "nine.
December---this is not an exact match with French or Italian. However, "10" in French is "dix", and "10" in Italian is "dieci". In Italian, "10" is "dieci". The spelling and pronunciation are similar.
Looking at the spellings in this way, we can clearly see what month these four months were originally.
This is why "October," once the eighth month of the year, is now the tenth month of the year.
Still, it's nice to have a teacher who occasionally takes a detour into the classroom with an interesting story like this. I like it. I remember being impressed when I heard about this big event that happened to the calendar.
Incidentally, the teacher told us that "July," which was added to the calendar in the middle of the course, was derived from "Julius Caesar," a hero of ancient Rome.
And "August" was named after Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. This was another "huh" moment for me.
I have already forgotten the name of my French teacher. But I vaguely remember his face. If he is still in good health, he must have already passed 80 years old. I miss him...
As a college student at the time, I never imagined that I would remember this episode of trivia more than 30 years later.
Small stories that were just interesting at the time can stay at the bottom of our consciousness for a long time and become memories. Life is a mystery.