These Etymology Charts Prove That Some Very Unexpected Words Are Related To Each Other

The promise of the internet was to put an library's worth of information at any schmo's fingertips, democratizing knowledge. Mostly that hasn't panned out — these days the world wide web is a jungle of alt-right trolls and fake news stories — but occasionally the internet lives up to its promise. Like yesterday, when glaciologist Martin O'Leary decided to find the common roots of a bunch of random words and blew everyone's mind with his homemade etymology charts on Twitter.

Using information from etymonline.com and the OED, O'Leary traced the common Proto-Indo-European root of "blue," "phlegm" and "flamingo" (!).

He demonstrated that "pontiff" and "bodega" are third cousins. (We always knew there was something holy about bodegas.)

Then there's the unexpected relationship between "science" and "shit."

Finally, proof that "architect" and "dachshund" are third cousins, thanks to their Proto-Indo-European great-great-grandparent, "teks" (to weave).

There are even more charts on O'Leary's Twitter page revealing the ancient connections between "bumpkin" and "husband," and "infant" and "fabulous," and "flatulent" and "flavor" (ew). So the next time you have to spend time with your conspiracy-theory-loving uncle, just keep in mind that everyone has some embarrassing relatives — even words.

[Martin O'Leary via Twitter Moments]