I was wondering about the greek origins of the word “philosophy”, which is usually explained as “love of knowledge”, because “philo” is “love” and “sophia” is “knowledge”.
But that would make “knowledge of love”; “love of knowledge” would be “sophophily”, just as “peadophily” is “lust for children” and so many other compounds.
After all, Greek has modifier-head compounds, doesnt it? Is there another example of a “backwards” compound like “philosophy” or has the world been using the wrong word for the past 25 centuries?
Actually, Philo and Sophia where a couple that used to argue all of the time about stuff that they could never find an answer for. So, when the people of the village would find themselves arguing in a similar fashion they would say, “hey we’re being like Philo and Sophia!†Then, down through the ages the words kind of merged into the one comprehensive term that we use today.
TheAdlerian, your response reminded me IMMENSLEY of the Dad from Calvin and Hobbes.
“How are babies made?”
“You buy a kit at sears, 20 minutes and an egg and POOF, a child.”
“I came from SEARS?!?”
“No, you were a blue light special at K-Mart. Half the price and almost as good!”
Because philosophy comes from a genuine greek word, philosophos. Other examples would be things like philanthropy, philology, etc. Words like 'paedophilia, scopophilia, etc. are not greek words, they are english terms constructed by using Greek.
Actually, sophia does not mean “knowledge,” it means a somewhat nuanced idea of “wisdom” or possibly “practical wisdom.” Philosophy is a compound that means love of wisdom, not love of knowledge.