Do You Know Which Languages These Common Words Are From?

Languages are living things. Constantly changing with new words and mixing of others, no language is entirely made of its own influence. Thanks to thousands of years of interaction between civilizations, English vocabulary is one of the largest of any spoken language today. Do you know what common words from the English language are actually borrowed from somewhere else? Can you tell which words are of Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and even Russian influence? Where do the words “tattoo,” “avatar,” “mosquito,” and “chocolate” come from? Do you know which language that the names of some of your favorite foods come from? Though most Americans only speak English, having knowledge of another language, especially Latin-based languages, will definitely help you understand the linguistic connections English has with the rest of the world. See if you can tell where these 12 common English words actually come from! You may be an aspiring linguist, after all.