English Tongue's Beauty

He thanked hosts for their hostility, What he meant was: hospitality. This twain of Latin roots, What a pair, rhyming cutes! — Hospis, as culprit prime, Hostis, its hands in crime, Can't help but marvel at this beauty That embraced alien words as duty. ___________________________________________ Yes, can't help but marvel at this English tongue's beauty. Look at this: ‘Gratitude to… for the exceptional hostility shown to us during our recent visit', a newspaper stated when it meant ‘hospitality'. We may blame the similarity of the Latin roots. Latin Hostis means enemy; and hospis could mean either a stranger (who could turn out to be hostile) , or else a host offering hospitality, thus a two-faced word, besides spawning a host of meanings: a company of armed men (hostage coming through this) , or peaceful angels— heavenly host, a large crowd (friendly or hostile) . ___________________________________________________________ Way of words |06.06.2020| Topic: words, English, beauty