2010年4月3號是Apple iPad在美國零售點開賣、預定戶陸續收到貨品快遞的日子。雖然作為Mac/iPhone軟體開發者，但是因為人不在 "where the action is"，倒也沒有任何想要打開資訊收集的天線來蒐羅各方意見的慾望。
這個時候來讀一些考察類的東西，閒靜一下。
關於歐語「字源學」(etymology) 一詞的字源考 (via @kongtat)：
Etymon has no etymon, fittingly enough. It existed only in Greek, with the generally accepted meaning of a true word, the original word, the source of all related words to come later. But it is hard to be sure about this. How could a word like etymon appear out of nowhere and suddenly install itself in ancient Greek, out of the blue, so to say.
"Etymon" 一詞沒有語源，似乎也蠻對。這詞僅在希臘文中有，慣常的意義是「真詞」、「源詞」、「所有相關 [派生] 詞的源頭」。但此說不易持信。像 etymon 這樣一個詞，怎可能無中生有，突然就出現在古希臘語中，天外一筆，如此。
The connection of soothe to yes is strange but true; it takes a bit of relaxing to get it straight in the mind. I suppose that if something is, and is true, and leads to nodding of the head, and brings the archaic response sooth, or the modern answer yes, it is a soothing experience. The truth is not always soothing, but in a better world it ought to be.
「療癒撫慰」與「是」竟有關係，這事既奇也真；待以寬鬆，則心了然。我想，如果一事存有、且真、且使人點頭稱是、又能喚出古老慰藉之應，抑或即現代人應答「是」者，該事即一種療癒慰藉之經驗。真理非恆能慰藉，但在一個美好世界裡，真理當如是。
中間的考察相當有趣（而且文章不長），非常建議大家去看看。