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Bonus points? (Score:1)

by dakkar (5832) on 2007.06.28 3:44 (#55808) Homepage Journal

It's "Xwrn" because the symbol "X" (in mathematics) come from the spanish writing of the pronunciation of the arabic word "شيء", "thing", used in algebric text... and the first sound of that word is roughly "sch"...

And yes, I knew it before checking the spelling on Wikipedia... I'm way too geek for my own good.

Reply to This
- Re: (Score:2)
  
  by bart (450)
  
  I thought the X is the same as the one in Xmas, thus, coming from the Greek letter Chi [wikipedia.org].
  - Re: (Score:2)
    
    by schwern (1528)
    
    While those are very good answers, and you're on the right track, they're incorrect. I'll give you a hint, the answer is googlable.
    - Re: (Score:1)
      
      by da (1525)
      
      http://forum.wordreference.com/archive/index.php/t-332413.html [wordreference.com]
      
      gives a variety of choices for source-languages: Pinyan, Maltese, Catalan, and Galician.
      
      http://www.public.iastate.edu/~rjsalvad/scmfaq/mexico.html [iastate.edu]
      
      suggests it's a placeholder for an unpronouncable sound for Mexican-Spanish natives.
      
      I think it's a xibboleth. :)
      
      --
      
      -DA [coder.com]

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