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by framapotari 620 days ago
In Icelandic, computer is "tölva" which is a combination of "tala" meaning "number" and "völva" meaning "oracle".
2 comments

And oracle means 'short announcement' (oraculum) meaning Icelanders call computers 'number announcers'. Interesting!

But more seriously, I wonder what the etymology of 'völva' is...

In Turkish, computer is "bilgisayar" which is a combination of "bilgi" meaning "knowledge" and "sayar" which is an intentional double-entendre of "counter"/"respects".