When you mentioned the Spanish word ‘farfala,’ I was immediately reminded of bow-tie pasta, also known as farfalle. It turns out that farfalla means ‘butterfly in Italian.
Perhaps this is useful, or perhaps it merely pushes the question of the word’s origin back one step farther.
Jim Brown:
February 26th, 2012 at 11:32 pm
Harold got there ahead of me.
Leave a comment
Search us!
Search The Word Detective and our family of websites:
This is the easiest way to find a column on a particular word or phrase.
To search for a specific phrase, put it between quotation marks. (note: JavaScript must be turned on in your browser to view results.)
Ask a Question!
Puzzled by Posh?
Confounded by Cattycorner?
Baffled by Balderdash?
Flummoxed by Flabbergast?
Perplexed by Pandemonium?
Nonplussed by... Nonplussed?
Annoyed by Alliteration?
Harold Russell:
December 13th, 2010 at 8:34 pm
When you mentioned the Spanish word ‘farfala,’ I was immediately reminded of bow-tie pasta, also known as farfalle. It turns out that farfalla means ‘butterfly in Italian.
Perhaps this is useful, or perhaps it merely pushes the question of the word’s origin back one step farther.
Jim Brown:
February 26th, 2012 at 11:32 pm
Harold got there ahead of me.