Snake
Old English snaca, from Proto-Germanic *snakon (cf. Old Norse snakr "snake," Swedish snok, German Schnake "ring snake"), from PIE root *snag-, *sneg- "to crawl, creeping thing" (cf. Old Irish snaighim "to creep," Lithuanian snake "snail," Old High German snahhan "to creep"). In Modern English, gradually replacing serpent in popular use. Meaning "treacherous person" first recorded 1590 (cf. Old Church Slavonic gadu "reptile," gadinu "foul, hateful").
英文字通常有深淺之分，就好似 join 係淺字, participate 係深字，深字比人嘅感覺係高級。而呢啲高級字多數源於法國，而蛇嘅深字係 Serpent
c.1300, "limbless reptile," also "tempter in Gen. iii:1-5," from Old French sarpent, from Latin serpentem (nom. serpens) "snake," from prp. of serpere "to creep," from PIE *serp- (cf. Sanskrit sarpati "creeps," sarpah "serpent;" Greek herpein "to creep," herpeton "serpent;" Albanian garper "serpent").
不過 Serpent 呢隻字太高級，高級到上咗神枱，所以現代應用上剩係用响象徵性嘅義意，即係神話故事或者係圖案咁。至於點解叫 Year of Snake 唔叫 Year of Serpent, 呢啲約定俗成嘅嘢，無得解!
祝大家蛇年 事事順利 身體健康!
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