Words: Gánc

Gánc (ga:nk)* – vulgar

Noun:

1. Faeces.
2. A place to excrete. A toilet.

Verb:

1. A shortened form of gáncen (ga:nken) meaning to defecate.

Etymology of gánc

Like most vulgar slang words, gánc has very interesting etymology. It first appears widely in the Murgaen language just before the War of Liberation around the mid 1200s WD (Westáhal Dating). It looks to have originated from the Davan word gaqen, which means to turn over, but it could also stem from a very old Aonna (Unnu) word, gah, meaning mule. If the latter is correct, then there is the possibility that the word reached Murgaen by way of the Kza-Lan Empire. The Kza-Lan language has a word gaḥ, which means laughter.

What is of particular interest is how this word evolves after The Alluvion. It loses popularity until the mid-Armen Kingdom era, where it resurfaces with the same meaning as the Murgaen use, but is spelt gont. The word continues to evolve right up until the late Armen Empire era where it evolves into the more familiar gong. This is where the term gong farming originates from.

If you’d like to play as a gong farmer, while solving riddles, unravelling puzzles, and struggling to stay clean, then please check out The Glyphs. A new part each week, so check back often.

* keen eyed observers might have noticed that in my work I use gank instead of gánc. I prefer to use the late-Murgaen spelling, purely for the ease of pronunciation, understanding, and spelling.