German must have its own share of disappointing terms.
Pferd comes to mind as an example. I really expected something more metal like horzdraken or comical like hoofenstreider. But no, just a boring Roman loan word.
That’s a common misconception! “Pferd” is called that, because it lives on the ground (“Erde”). If it would live in the air (“Luft”), it would be called “Pfluft”.
The latin word, for those who are curious, being paraverēdus (additional postal horse, postal horse for special occasions), according to https://www.dwds.de/wb/Pferd
German must have its own share of disappointing terms.
Pferd comes to mind as an example. I really expected something more metal like horzdraken or comical like hoofenstreider. But no, just a boring Roman loan word.
Simple words are usually those that stayed with a language the longest.
Hungarian also has a very high percentage of loanwords, and a lot of those very old ancient non-compound non-calque non-loanwords are single syllable.
Like:
Horse = Ló
Road = Út
Bridge = Híd
Army = Had
Herd of horses = Mén
That’s a common misconception! “Pferd” is called that, because it lives on the ground (“Erde”). If it would live in the air (“Luft”), it would be called “Pfluft”.
/j
The latin word, for those who are curious, being paraverēdus (additional postal horse, postal horse for special occasions), according to https://www.dwds.de/wb/Pferd