"Devil" with an initial "dr-" consonant cluster

Language Log 2025-12-10

Summary:

I was intrigued by the surname of a very nice man whom I met at Home Depot.  His name was Steven Dreibelbis, and his position in the store was that of "Customer Experience Manager". Steven'a surname, Dreibelbis, sounded very German to me.  I asked him about it and he told me that he was indeed […]

Link:

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=72250&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=devil-with-an-initial-dr-consonant-cluster

From feeds:

Gudgeon and gist » Language Log

Tags:

etymology

Authors:

Victor Mair

Date tagged:

12/10/2025, 10:40

Date published:

12/10/2025, 07:24