Words Have Histories, Just Like People

* A Reflective Essay as I Approach My 92nd Birthday *

Part 1. Twenty English Words and Their Ancestry

English is sometimes described as a Germanic language with a substantial Latin and French vocabulary. The following 20 words illustrate how these different linguistic traditions have enriched our language.

The origins below are simplified explanations of each word's historical ancestry.

A. Words with Latin Roots

Latin was the language of ancient Rome. Through education, religion, science, and scholarship, Latin has had an enormous influence on English.

Word	Meaning	Origin
1. Wisdom	Knowledge and good judgment	Old English wisdom, with Germanic roots; included here as a contrast
2. Memory	The ability to remember	Latin memoria
3. Education	The process of learning	Latin educatio
4. Knowledge	Understanding or awareness	Old English cnāwlece, Germanic
5. Liberty	Freedom	Latin libertas
6. Virtue	Moral goodness	Latin virtus
7. Mortality	The condition of being subject to death	Latin mortalitas

B. Words with French Roots

After the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, French profoundly influenced English. Many words associated with government, law, food, art, and social life entered English through French.

Word	Meaning	Origin
8. Courage	Bravery in facing difficulties	Old French corage
9. Beauty	Quality of being beautiful	Old French beauté
10. Journey	Traveling from one place to another	Old French jornee
11. Memory	The ability to remember	Latin through French
12. Restaurant	An establishment serving meals	French restaurant
13. Legacy	Something handed down from the past	Old French legacie
14. Wisdom	Good judgment and understanding	Old English, Germanic

C. Words with Germanic Roots

Germanic languages are the historical foundation of English. Many of the words we use for everyday activities, relationships, and emotions come from this linguistic family.

Word	Meaning	Origin
15. Home	A place where one lives	Old English hām
16. Love	Deep affection	Old English lufu
17. Friend	A person with whom we share affection and trust	Old English frēond
18. Life	The condition of being alive	Old English līf
19. Hope	Expectation and desire for something good	Old English hopa
20. Death	The end of life	Old English dēaþ

A small historical observation: English words do not always have just one simple ancestry. Some traveled through several languages before arriving in English. For example, many words with Latin origins entered English through French.

Part 2. My Reflective Essay

A Reflective Essay as I Approach My 92nd Birthday

As I approach my 92nd birthday next month, I find myself reflecting on many things. My memories of childhood in the Philippines, my years as a student, my professional career, my family, my travels, and the many people who have crossed my path during this long journey called life.

Recently, I became interested in something we often take for granted: the English language.

Have you ever wondered why some English words sound distinctly Latin, others French, and still others Germanic? Why do we have so many different words to express similar thoughts and feelings?

The English language is a fascinating mixture of linguistic influences. It is a language that has borrowed, adapted, and evolved over many centuries.

A Language with Many Ancestors

English began primarily as a Germanic language. Its earliest foundations came from the languages spoken by Germanic tribes who settled in Britain. That is why many simple, everyday English words, such as home, love, life, friend, hope, and death, have Germanic origins.

Then came the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. French became the language of the English ruling class, government, and much of the legal and administrative world. Over time, thousands of French words entered English.

That is why we have words such as courage, beauty, journey, restaurant, and legacy.

Latin contributed another enormous vocabulary, particularly through religion, education, science, medicine, philosophy, and scholarship.

Words such as education, liberty, virtue, memory, and mortality remind us of the enduring influence of ancient Rome.

It is fascinating to realize that when we speak English today, we are using a language shaped by several civilizations and centuries of human history.

Words and the Passage of Time

As I look at the words themselves, I find that some have a deeper meaning for me now than they did when I was younger.

Take the word education. When I was a young student at the University of the Philippines, education represented opportunity. It opened doors that I could hardly have imagined as a young boy growing up in Barotac Viejo, Iloilo.

My education eventually took me to the University of Illinois, where I earned my Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry. It also brought me to a professional career in the pharmaceutical industry and later to the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Looking back, education was more than acquiring knowledge. It changed the direction of my life.

Then there is memory. At my age, memory has become particularly precious. I sometimes revisit childhood experiences, my years in college, my professional accomplishments, and especially the years I shared with my late wife, Macrine.

Some memories are vivid, while others have become a little blurred around the edges. But I have learned that memories are not merely records of the past. They are part of who we are today.

The word love also carries a special meaning. More than 63 years of marriage cannot be adequately described in a few sentences. Love is not simply romance or the excitement of youth. It is companionship, patience, sacrifice, forgiveness, and being there for someone through the difficult seasons of life.

And then there is legacy.

I have reached an age when I think less about what I have accumulated and more about what I can leave behind. My children, grandchildren, and two great-grandsons are an important part of that legacy.

Perhaps my continuing interest in writing and blogging is another small contribution. Since 2009, I have written about science, technology, Philippine culture, aging, family, and the many things that make life interesting. I am grateful that readers from different parts of the world have taken the time to read my thoughts.

The Words That Matter Most

Among the 20 words I have selected, there are six that particularly resonate with me as I approach 92.

• Wisdom – Not simply knowing many things, but learning from our mistakes and experiences.

• Courage – Finding the strength to face life's uncertainties, including the challenges that come with aging.

• Friendship – Appreciating the people who make our journey less difficult and more meaningful.

• Hope – Continuing to look forward, even when the future is uncertain.

• Life – Recognizing that every day, regardless of age, is an opportunity to experience something worthwhile.

• Mortality – Accepting that life has an ending, while appreciating the time we have been given.

At nearly 92, I am increasingly aware that time is perhaps our most valuable possession. We cannot recover yesterday, and none of us knows how many tomorrows remain.

But I do not consider growing old a reason to stop being curious.

I still enjoy a good game of Bridge, conversations with friends, discovering interesting subjects, watching films, and exploring how artificial intelligence is changing our world. I may no longer have the energy of my younger years, but my curiosity remains very much alive.

Perhaps that is one of the secrets of aging: keeping the mind interested in the world around us.

A Final Reflection

Words have histories, just like people. They travel across generations, acquire new meanings, and become part of the lives of those who use them.

The English language itself is a legacy of many civilizations. Its richness comes from its willingness to borrow and learn from others.

Perhaps there is a lesson here for all of us.

We, too, are products of different experiences, cultures, relationships, successes, failures, and encounters. Each of these has contributed something to the person we have become.

As I prepare to celebrate my 92nd birthday, I am reminded that growing older does not mean that our story is finished. There are still words to discover, ideas to explore, people to appreciate, and memories to preserve.

I may be approaching 92, but I am not finished learning.

And as long as I can still put my thoughts into words, I hope to continue sharing a little wisdom, a few memories, and perhaps an occasional smile with my readers around the world.

After all, age adds years to our lives, but curiosity adds life to our years.

AI Impressions and Suggestions for My Birthday Writing Series

Part 3. A Suggestion for MY  birthday series

I particularly like the possibility of turning this reflection into a small series called:

"Words of Wisdom at 92: Reflections on Life, Language and Time."

You could explore several interesting words in subsequent posts:

• Nostalgia – Why we cherish memories of the past.

• Serendipity – The unexpected discoveries that enrich our lives.

• Resilience – How we recover from life's disappointments.

• Gratitude – Why appreciating what we have matters more as we age.

• Ephemeral – The fleeting nature of life and time.

• Eudaimonia – An ancient Greek concept of human flourishing and living a meaningful life.

One final thought: I would retain the title Words Have Histories, Just Like People. It captures the central message beautifully.

At nearly 92, you have accumulated something much more valuable than a dictionary of words: a lifetime of experiences that give those words meaning.

What makes this particular posting special is that it is not simply about the English language or the origins of 20 words. It is about a lifetime of experiences viewed through the wisdom of nearly 92 years.

Your journey from Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, to the University of the Philippines, the University of Illinois, your FDA career, your family life with Macrine, and now your continuing adventures in blogging and exploring AI gives the essay an authenticity that no dictionary can provide.

I particularly love your closing thought:

"Age adds years to our lives, but curiosity adds life to our years."

That is a wonderful birthday message, not just for you, but for readers of every age and from every corner of the world.

Keep writing! Your story is still unfolding. And I hope we will have many more blog posts to celebrate before and after your 92nd birthday. 😊

AI Overview: 

Every word carries a hidden biography, shaped by migration, shifting cultures, and the everyday lives of the people who spoke it. 

Just like people, words travel across borders, take on new jobs, shed old habits, and sometimes hide their literal beginnings behind a modern pronunciation.

How Words Live and Change

• They migrate and adapt. Languages constantly borrow from one another through trade, exploration, and cultural exchange. Everyday English words like chocolate, tomato, and barbecue traveled from Indigenous languages of the Americas into global vocabulary. 
• They evolve with human beliefs. Words often preserve outdated science or folklore. For instance, users on Quora frequently point out that lunatic comes from the Latin lunaticus("moonstruck"), reflecting an ancient belief that the cycles of the moon caused madness.
• They disguise their literal roots. Over centuries, fast speech blurs compound words until we forget what they actually say. As contributors on Reddit's r/etymology communitynote, a cupboard was literally a board for cups, breakfast was simply breaking a night's fast, and goodbye began as the phrase "God be with ye". 
• They are sometimes born in a single moment. While most words grow organically, others have an exact birthdate. Authors and thinkers regularly coin terms—like pandemonium or serendipity—that capture a new idea so well that generations adopt them. 

If you enjoy exploring how language captures human experience, books like The Wordspotter's Guide and Word Origins ... and How We Know Them dive deep into the detective work behind these linguistic biographies.

My Photo of the Day-Willie- My Friend's Pet Dog

Hi David,

I know you are a pet owner and attached deeply to Batman and Robin so I am sharing this news with you.

On Tuesday my beloved Willie passed away. We had many great experiences together including time at THD. 

I have attached an in memory of Willie tribute.  If you feel compelled to share with any residents or on your blog please don't hesitate to do so. 

I sincerely hope you are well.. I read your blog daily. Michael 

We Are Still Here! Reflections on the 1960 “Doomsday” Prediction

Good Morning, World-We Are Still Here! Reflections on the 1960 “Doomsday” Prediction

If you are reading this post today, Friday, November 13, 2026, congratulations! Against some rather dramatic predictions made sixty-six years ago, the Earth has not cracked open, we have not been squeezed off the planet, and I am still here sipping my morning coffee and sharing my thoughts with all of you around the globe.

Over the past few weeks, headlines and social media have been buzzing about a famous prediction from 1960 that marked today as the end of the world. Many people casually remember it as some eerie psychic prophecy tied to the superstition of Friday the 13th. Having lived through enough decades and having spent my own career immersed in the world of science, I always find it fascinating to look behind the curtain of sensational headlines to see what actually happened.

A Penniless Student in Chicago and a Paper Downstate

As it turns out, this particular doomsday forecast didn't come from a crystal ball or a mystic. It came from a peer-reviewed paper published in the prestigious journal Science on November 4, 1960. Written by Austrian-American physicist Heinz von Foerster and two colleagues downstate at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, the article bore the ominous title: "Doomsday: Friday, 13 November, A.D. 2026".

That detail makes me smile every time I think about it, because in November 1960, I was a fellow University of Illinois student myself, though miles away in the heart of Chicago, studying at the Medical Center and Research campus. Fresh from the Philippines, I was navigating my first year of graduate school, essentially penniless, bundled up against the biting Lake Michigan winds, and surviving on a shoestring budget, sheer determination, and boundless hope for the future.

While I was buried in my own laboratory research and textbooks in Chicago, those professors at our sister campus downstate were analyzing two thousand years of human population data. They noticed something alarming: our numbers weren't just growing; the rate of growth was speeding up.

Plugging those numbers into a mathematical formula, they projected that if humanity continued multiplying at that exact pace, the world's population would reach mathematical infinity on November 13, 2026. As they famously wrote in their paper, "Our great-great-grandchildren will not starve. They will be squeezed to death".

Of course, even serious scientists have a sense of humor. Von Foerster deliberately nudged the math so the apocalypse would land on November 13, which just happened to be his own birthday and a Friday the 13th to boot, ensuring the public would pay attention to his warning about overpopulation.

Why the Math Missed the Mark

For about thirty years, the formula held up surprisingly well. Yet by the 1990s, reality took a sharp turn away from the chalkboard. Today, rather than approaching infinity, the global population sits at a little over 8 billion people, and birth rates around the world have dropped by more than half since 1960.

Why did the equation fail? Because human beings are not mere variables in a rigid mathematical formula. As societies modernized, access to healthcare improved, urbanization expanded, and families naturally began choosing to have fewer children. In fact, many economists today worry more about declining populations and aging societies than we do about running out of standing room.

A Lesson in Humility and Hope

Looking back at that young graduate student in Chicago in 1960, who had almost nothing in his pockets but everything to look forward to, I am reminded of two enduring truths.

First, even the smartest minds with the sharpest pencils cannot account for the unpredictable resilience and adaptability of the human spirit. Models and equations are useful warnings, not etched-in-stone destinies.

Second, every ordinary Friday we get to wake up, connect with family, read a good book, or share a story across the miles with readers like you is a gift. So today, don't worry about the calendar or sixty-year-old equations. Enjoy your Friday, appreciate the space you have to breathe, and let’s keep living life to the fullest!

Do you remember any famous end-of-the-world predictions from your own lifetime? Drop a comment below and let me know where you are reading from today!

AI Overview:

Today, Friday, November 13, 2026, marks the exact date a famous 1960 scientific paper predicted humanity would face "doomsday" through infinite population growth. Because real-world demographic trends shifted dramatically over the past six decades, the equation's catastrophic singularity never materialized. 

What the 1960 Study Actually Predicted

In November 1960, University of Illinois physicist Heinz von Foerster and his colleagues Patricia Mora and Lawrence Amiot published a provocative paper in the journal Science titled "Doomsday: Friday, 13 November, A.D. 2026".

• The Mathematical Singularity. The researchers analyzed historical population estimates spanning roughly 2,000 years and noticed that human population doubling times were shrinking. Extrapolating that accelerating curve forward produced a mathematical singularity on November 13, 2026, where the global population would theoretically hit infinity. 
• A Cautionary Thought Experiment. Von Foerster warned that future generations would not starve, but rather be "squeezed to death". The date also happened to be von Foerster's 115th birthday, serving as a satirical, eye-catching way to argue for global birth control rather than a literal prophecy of planetary destruction.

Why the Equation Failed

For roughly three decades, the formula tracked global population growth surprisingly well, earning widespread citations in political and scientific debates. However, the model relied on the flawed assumption that growth rates would accelerate forever. 

• The 1993 Turning Point. Around 1993, actual global population growth began falling behind the paper's projections. Today, the global birth rate is less than half of what it was in 1960. 
• Social and Medical Shifts. Advances in healthcare, urbanization, wider access to education, and contraception drastically changed family-size preferences. More than half of the world's countries now have fertility rates below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman.
• Biological Limits. Demographers also noted that the equation ignored basic physical constraints. A population doubling time cannot realistically shrink below the nine-month human gestation period. 
• The Takeaway for Modern Forecasting

As summarized in analyses from outlets like ScienceDaily and The Conversation, the passing of November 13, 2026, serves as a classic case study in the limits of mathematical extrapolation. Complex human systems rarely follow rigid curves indefinitely because societies adapt, innovate, and change their behavior in response to emerging challenges. 

Meanwhile, here's the top news Today:  

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Resigns

Jensen Huang has resigned as CEO of Nvidia following revelations of an affair with a businesswoman alleged to be a Chinese spy. The shocking exit has triggered a drop in company stock, a congressional scramble for testimonies from both Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and an ongoing board investigation.

Widespread Microsoft Outage

A rolling tech outage across Microsoft platforms-including Outlook and Teams stretches past 12 hours, severely disrupting offices, schools, and health services in dozens of countries.

Political Shifts in Washington and State Races

Senate Leadership Challenge: Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen announced he will challenge Senator Chuck Schumer for the role of Senate Democratic leader. 
Governors' Races: Democrat Cindy Holscher defeated Republican Ty Masterson in the Kansas governor's race, while Democrat Scott Colom flipped a key Mississippi Senate seat. 

Tragic Brooklyn Building Collapse

Search and rescue operations continue in Brooklyn following a devastating residential building collapse that left at least 8 people dead, including 2 children. [1]

Here is a look at the breaking news coverage and search operations surrounding the apartment building collapse in Brooklyn:

54s

This Morning's Top Headlines – Nov. 12 | Morning News NOW

Finally My Photo of The Day:

Ditas and Friend Kiko, enjoying their 3-weeks Philippines Adventure at the Ifugao Rice Terraces, Banaue, Philippines