Credit for the before and after pictures goes to Geology.com. The photos are of the Bolivar peninsula, just north of Galveston Island.
So... if the after picture shows the aftermath, does the before picture show a beforemath? What does the "math" in "aftermath" represent linguistically/etymologically?
Answer in the Comments section for the few who will be interested.
As you no doubt guessed, there is no "beforemath" - just "beforetime," "beforehand," "beforesaid," and "beforeness."
ReplyDeleteThe "math" in "aftermath" is a word meaning "mowing" (via Old English, Middle High German and Old Teutonic). So an "aftermath" is the crop that comes up after the first mowing (Southey, 1862: "No aftermath has the fragrance and sweetness of the first crop.")
That's why "aftermath" is used figureatively to describe the condition after a disaster, like a hurricane sweeping an island, but not for something after pleasure, such as "the aftermath of a kiss."