Where does “telling-to” come from?
telling-to (English) comes from English telling, from English tell, from Middle English tellen, from Old English tellan, from Proto-West Germanic talljan, from Proto-Germanic taljaną, from Proto-Germanic talą, from Proto-Indo-European dol- — to aim, calculate, adjust, count; to reckon,...
telling-to (English): A reprimand, reproach, or lecture
Definitions
- A reprimand, reproach, or lecture
Ancestry of “telling-to”, step by step
telling-to traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English telling
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | telling | present participle of tell; Having force, or... |
| 2 | English | tell | To count, reckon, or enumerate; To narrate; To... |
| 3 | Middle English | tellen | to count; to tell |
| 4 | Old English | tellan | to count, calculate; to tell, narrate, recount;... |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | talljan | to count, to enumerate; to recount, to tell |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | taljaną | to enumerate, count; to account, recount, tell |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | talą | speech; number |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | dol- | reckoning, calculation, fraud; calculation, fraud |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | del- | to aim, calculate, adjust, count; to reckon,... |
via English to
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | to | A particle used for marking the following verb as... |
| 2 | Middle English | to | toe; to; too |
| 3 | Middle English | tone | the one |
| 4 | Latin | tonus | The stretching or straining of a rope; A strain;... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | τόνος | rope, cord; chord; tone, note |
| 6 | Proto-Hellenic | tónos | rope, cord; tension |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | tónos | something stretched; chord, fiber, string |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ten- | to stretch, to extend |