Wainwright = Wagonmaker

by Solanus on Dec 4, 2006 11:48 AM EST

This is a complete aside. I saw somewhere that Wainwright is the term given to a medieval wagon maker, wain being Old English for wagon.

I was kind of curious if anyone knew the etymology of the last names of some of our players. Isringhausen, Pujols, Taguchi, Spiezio, etc.

Factually-correct and comedic attempts are appreciated in equal amounts.

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no longer with the cardinals

but "marquis" derives from a flemish verb that refers to pinning a floundering fish to the deck of a boat while wearing slippery rubber galoshes

by lboros on Dec 4, 2006 11:46 AM EST reply actions

Encarnacion

literally means incarnation in Spanish. I'm sure there will be a few fun ones to come out of the community by the time we're done, though.

Oh, the burden of stupid people.

by Solanus on Dec 4, 2006 11:48 AM EST reply actions

Eckstein

I ran Eckstein through Babelfish & it came out with this: "eck" translates from German to "hit a corner" in English and "stein" means "stone".

So, does that mean his name translates to "get into a fistfight with Rolen" or am I reading this wrong?

Oh, the burden of stupid people.

by Solanus on Dec 4, 2006 11:56 AM EST reply actions

"Hit the stone down into the corner, dammit!!!" This, of course, is coming from a guy who had one great-grandmother come to the US "oover der see in der boot." Even after learning English, she'd still use syntax like, "Look the window out and see if up the street the soldiers are marching down!" <grin>

"A man should live forever, or die trying." -- Mike Callahan

by The Ol Goaler on Dec 4, 2006 1:01 PM EST up reply actions

Eckstein = corner stone

ecke = "corner" and stein = "stone", so, eckstein = "corner stone". I also saw that a couple of on-line translators said eck (without the last e) meant "hit a corner" but I imagine the name came from a descriptive combination of two nouns, thus "corner stone".

Isringhausen is more difficult. Hause = "house" and one or two of the translators had hausen = "lives". Also, ring = "ring" and is(t) = "is" so, literally, isringhausen means "is ring house" or "is ring lives". I suspect it grew from a descriptive such as "lives in the ring" or "from the ring house" or some such where the ring was probably some road feature or such. Or, maybe, a ringmaker's house.

by ArkansasTravs on Dec 4, 2006 3:08 PM EST up reply actions

Sosa

literally means "insipid" in Spanish. "Insipid" means: lacking in qualities that interest, stimulate or challenge.

Guess that works for Jorge, or Sammy really.

Oh, the burden of stupid people.

by Solanus on Dec 4, 2006 12:02 PM EST reply actions

Sosa

means bland in spanish, or insipid like you said

by eglasier on Dec 7, 2006 11:26 AM EST up reply actions

Pujols

I think Pujols means God.

"And that's a winner. A World Series winner for the Cardinals."

by Bird Watcher on Dec 4, 2006 12:08 PM EST reply actions

Pujols

actually means, "lets bury the hatchet, and hang out tonight"

"back.. at the track...at the wall..homerun." -joe buck

by omshagome on Dec 4, 2006 12:23 PM EST up reply actions

Spiezio

is pretty close to "spezia", which is Italian for "spice". Fitting, I think -- using too much (of the player or the spice) is usually not a good idea; but used in the proper amounts, it can do wonders for your lineup/cuisine.

Good heavens, I must be bored today. :-)

by DCRedbird on Dec 4, 2006 4:10 PM EST reply actions

Man

I wonder where "Carpenter" comes from?

Cheers

by Alxfritz on Dec 5, 2006 1:34 AM EST reply actions

Carpenter, Wainwright

We have a Carpenter, a Wainwright and a Tyler. Now all we need is a Wagner, a Plummer and a Mason. I don't know any Plummers or Masons in baseball, but I'd be content with Billy Wagner to round out the bullpen.

by Fred McTaggart on Dec 5, 2006 9:05 PM EST reply actions

Medieval English Professions.

Two names that immediately pop up are two Scotts: Cooper & Fletcher. We also used to have Ken Boyer, which was probably adjusted from "bowyer".

Chuck Tanner, any Taylor (adjusted from "tailor"), Grant Thatcher, Joe Tinker - that's just the T's.

Oh, the burden of stupid people.

by Solanus on Dec 6, 2006 10:03 AM EST reply actions

Taguchi

This is a little late, but I'm half-Japanese (I speak the language badly) and the kanji characters for Taguchi are both fairly common.

If I am correct, "Ta" quite simply means "field" and "guchi" means "mouth" or "opening."

Of course, sometimes the literal meaning of the character and its meaning in a name are a bit skewed, but my guess is that the name means "mouth of the field" or something to that extent. I guess I could ask my mother to be sure...

by sirensofsilence on Dec 7, 2006 2:40 PM EST reply actions