Where does “shillig-a-booka” come from?
shillig-a-booka (English) comes from Irish seilide, from Middle Irish seilche, from Old Irish selige, from Proto-Indo-European tsel- — to sneak.
shillig-a-booka (English): snail
Ancestry of “shillig-a-booka”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Irish | seilide | snail, slug |
| 2 | Middle Irish | seilche | snail; shelled animal; turtle, tortoise, snail |
| 3 | Old Irish | selige | turtle; animal with a shell |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | tsel- | to sneak |