Thirty English Words that have Arabic Origins

July 4, 2012 | Posted by profanglais

All languages “borrow” words from other languages. For example “redingote” in French comes from “riding coat” – a coat to wear when horse-riding. “Curfew” is the English version of “couvre-feu” – we are hopeless at pronouncing French words correctly. Linguists call these words “loan words” but I hate that – if they are on loan, [...]