Yo, Tech Answer Guy,
I was on my way to the grocer's to get some milk and treats for my Oil Wildcat when death rays started pelting the street in front of me and ominously floating alien spaceships used tractor beams to suck random passersby into the sky. Fortunately, I know a couple of shortcuts, so I took a different route. I had to manoeuvre around huge holes gouged in the sidewalk and was nearly killed when our tanks fired on buildings controlled by the aliens, causing them to topple over in ways that would make Zach Snyder envious!
Otherwise, the walk was uneventful.
Oddly enough, when I got to the grocery store, it was abandoned. So, I grabbed a bottle of milk and some catnip and left enough money on the counter by the register to cover my purchase.
When I spoke to my wife after I got home, she said that it was just dumb luck that I survived the invasion intact. And, I thought, Dumb luck? If there is such a thing as dumb luck, could there be such a thing as "smart luck?" What do you think?
Sincerely,Try to keep it down, okay? I don't want The Language Corrector Dude to find out about your -
Hey, Tech Answer Guy. What's shaking? (Did you know that the word "shake" is derived from an Arabic word for lamb's intestines?)
Oh, umm, nothing.
Hey Because, to tell you the truth, it looks like a language question.
Nope. Definitely not. No way. It's just a typical alien invasion question. I - stop looking at the screen over my shoulder! - I get them all the - HEY! BACK OFF! - all the time.
Hey Really? Because the story behind the phrase "dumb luck" is actually quite fascinating.
* SIGH * Why don't you tell us about it?
Hey I'D BE HAPPY TO! I mean, uhh, yeah, sure, okay. English is amazing. It picks the pockets of other languages in broad daylight and follows them into dark alleys in the dead of night to beat them senseless so it can steal their dentures! No other language is quite so willing to get its hands dirty with -
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Language Corrector Dude, I'm not sure we should be promoting random acts of violence here. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's not a good idea.
Hey Okay. Yeah. Right. Sorry. Without a column of my own, I can sometimes forget the niceties. What I'm saying is that English stea - uhh, borrows from other languages in a completely peaceful, non-violent way. The phrase "dumb luck" is a great example - it originated in the Swedish language.
There is a story in Norse mythology about Thor beating the crap out of the Mimosae Obscuranti, the Not Well Known Mimosas. Could be the tree. Could be the drink. Ancient sagas are not always easy to parse. At one point in - checkers. He beat the crap out of them at checkers. Not at all in a violent way.
At one point in the battle - match! - Thor stepped on a snail, which caused him to momentarily trip up. Fortunately, this allowed him to avoid a potential killing blow from a 12 foot tall marauding mollusk. That, uhh, had been queened. This became known as tur av det snäcka, "the luck of the snail." Swedes are not noted for their linguistic creativity. A sheep slaughterer/poet referred to it as Thor's svida tur, "Thor's smart luck," meaning an unexpected turn that helps somebody achieve their goal.
Norse priests immediately objected to the term, saying it blasphemed the thunder god and, in any case, Odin was much luckier than dumb old Thor. The term was shortened to svida tur, but the ruling of the priests was so strong that it wasn't used for another 1,200 years.
By that time, the Black Plague had been replaced by typhus and wafflecones had become the national food of Norway. Another sheep slaughterer/poet, finding the term useful but fearful of a negative religious reaction, changed it to dumbom tur, or "fool's luck." It means exactly the same thing, an unexpected turn that helps somebody achieve their goal, but without the religious connotations. Or, motion sickness.
The phrase was originally translated as "dumb dumb turkey," which didn't make much sense (although Marlowe still used it in three of his plays and at least two of his sheep's bladder recipes). The earliest known use of the phrase "dumb luck" has been lost to history, but that's the form in which it has come down to us, so it's probable that somebody coined it at some point.
Isn't English awesome?
The Tech Answer GuyHuddled in a bunker on Queen Street, somebody I didn't know asked me what my honest thoughts were about the alien invasion. Honest thoughts? As she was sucked up by the tractor beam of an alien space ship, I wondered if, when people don't ask you for your honest thoughts, they're actually asking for your dishonest thoughts. What do you think? Honestly?
Sincerely,Yo, Da Pitts,
Another language question? You don't wanna know what I'm thinking. Honestly!
The Tech Answer Guy
If you are a dude with a question about the latest technology, ask The Tech Answer Guy by sending it to questions@lespagesauxfolles.ca. Just remember: The Tech Answer Guy does his best to ensure that when you ask him a question, you get an answer from him and not The Language Corrector Dude, Engineer Scruffy or Ask The Ventrosian Squiggle. Unfortunately, in this life there are no guarantees...