The "m" in motel refers to a motorcar. The "h" in hotel, an older term, is presumably a reference to a horse.
The "m" in motel refers to a motorcar. The "h" in hotel, an older term, is presumably a reference to a horse.
Hotel comes from the French word hôtel and that word is is defined as places providing care. Really the h in hotel would be hospitality but really that is not the case.
53 0 ReplyYou can go further back. The Old French ostel is from the Latin hospitale, meaning "inn" or "large house", which is the noun form of the adjective hospitalis, from hospes, meaning "host".
So the H in hotel is for host, kind of.
(you can go further back into the theoretical language Proto-Indo-European, but there's no written record of it, so no letter H that we know of)
47 0 ReplyVery cool so really host is the root meaning as far as the written record shows.
7 1 ReplyAnd O-circumflex “ô” in French indicates an elided “s”. hô = hos
4 0 Reply
I guess no one said shower thoughts had to be accurate.
48 0 ReplyYeah, they're not even close for hotel. Here's the etymology:
https://www.etymonline.com/word/hotel
They're correct about motel, though:
3 0 ReplyYeah, also taking a shower while on the effects of imbibing probably isn't safe.
2 0 ReplyAbsolutely. It isn't true. It just should be.
1 3 Reply
Now explain brothel.
20 0 ReplyWhen you ride your bros
10 0 ReplyBicycles
8 0 ReplyGET ON YOUR BIKES AND RIDE!
5 0 Reply
Flying by brooms (Bro thel)
3 0 Reply
Then explain why motels don't have racecar beds!
11 0 ReplyNo, that's where we got the word horstel.
16 0 ReplyAnd before horses they were called "wotels" because you walked to them.
11 0 ReplyThat makes perfect sense. :-)
Language is just a consensus. If enough people agree about how it works, then that's how it works.
1 0 Reply
12 0 ReplyHuh
https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/motel
Blend of motor + hotel, from the original Motel Inn of San Luis Obispo in California, USA, established in 1925 by Arthur Heineman (1878–1974).
While looking for a term to describe the original post, and came across this. I'm going to make a separate post about it
11 0 Replythe og motel (1925-1991):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motel_Inn$1.25 a night in 1925
6 0 Reply“Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn. You see, if your girl starts acting up, then you take her friend!”
8 3 ReplyMotelCotel4 0 Reply