Active Users:264 Time:29/03/2024 11:46:29 AM
I found your linguistic question intriguing Tom Send a noteboard - 27/04/2017 02:48:56 PM

The answer, I believe, shows just how phony and stupid Panera Bread is. Wikipedia tells me that it was originally called the "St. Louis Bread Company", which is a far more honest name that is bereft of any false pretention and lets people know they're going to a chain that is essentially yet another chain. The new name implies it's mass produced garbage masquerading as something better (cf. Olive Garden).

There is no such thing as "panera" in any Romance language that I'm aware of. As you pointed out, the first part of the word, pan-, is definitely based on the real Latin root panis, "bread", which became pan in Spanish, pane in Italian and pain in French. But the -era? What the Hell is up with that?

Well, Wikipedia tells us that the word "panera" is a word "that has roots meaning "bread basket" in Latin". In other words, they're admitting it isn't a real word but they're trying to say its roots mean "bread basket" in Latin. Except that they don't. Latin words for "basket" include canua, corbis, canistellum (specifically for bread, that one), or nassa. Vulgar Latin added cista, which is from Greek originally and became the common cesta of Spanish and Italian.

So if they knew shit about Latin they'd name the restaurant Canistellum if they wanted to call it "bread basket". But they don't. They're bullshitting everyone, just like they're bullshitting everyone about the quality of their food (apparently - I've never eaten at one of these places).

Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.

ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius

Ummaka qinnassa nīk!

*MySmiley*
This message last edited by Tom on 27/04/2017 at 02:49:46 PM
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I ate at Panera Bread - 26/04/2017 11:52:03 PM 763 Views
That's a surprisingly wonderful story. - 27/04/2017 12:23:48 AM 494 Views
Can I get this guy banned? *NM* - 27/04/2017 09:07:18 AM 319 Views
Lettuce muncher. *NM* - 27/04/2017 10:41:04 PM 299 Views
Reminds me of a grilled cheese I got at Au Bon Pain. - 27/04/2017 01:17:51 PM 528 Views
Meanwhile, do you remember that breakfast sandwich at Panera? - 27/04/2017 03:33:31 PM 639 Views
Yeah, that was some good shit! - 27/04/2017 03:52:19 PM 563 Views
They were better when they first opened - 27/04/2017 01:30:58 PM 592 Views
I found your linguistic question intriguing - 27/04/2017 02:48:56 PM 562 Views
It figures it would be BS - 27/04/2017 05:59:05 PM 651 Views
You should've checked Wiktionary instead of Wikipedia... - 27/04/2017 07:30:19 PM 778 Views
So, "Breadbasket Bread"? Great name. *NM* - 27/04/2017 09:03:54 PM 302 Views
You object to cane sugar in your lemonade? - 27/04/2017 06:55:26 PM 696 Views
Yes. It was called a grilled cheese when my mom made them in a frying pan - 27/04/2017 07:26:00 PM 549 Views
my mom buttered both sides of the bread smashed it flat with a spatula - 28/04/2017 06:48:02 PM 702 Views
Grilled cheese and Campbell's Tomato Soup was a typical cold weather lunch *NM* - 28/04/2017 07:06:11 PM 369 Views
I still love it only I put back on the sandwidch *NM* - 28/04/2017 07:29:33 PM 430 Views
I don't drink - 27/04/2017 09:02:17 PM 667 Views
If you don't drink and don't like undressed women Hooters is not for you - 28/04/2017 07:28:48 PM 740 Views
Their coffee sucks, too *NM* - 27/04/2017 10:40:19 PM 275 Views

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