A Cheesy Etymology Post

Caerphilly is a Welsh cheese named after an area in Wales. As a word, it's mostly known for being an esoteric homonym of "carefully."

    Jack, cheddar, parmesan--everybody knows a handful of common cheese names. Beyond that, though, there's a whole world of cheese words that have fascinating etymologies.
     Take, for example, gammelost. It's a Norwegian blue mold cheese. The interesting part is that in Norwegian, "gammelost" literally translates to "old cheese": gammel means old, and ost means cheese. This is likely related to the "mold" part of the definition, but either way it's funny to see a cheese named for being old. There are a number of other "-ost" cheeses as well, such as primost ("whey cheese") and gjetost ("goat cheese"). Although all of these words are derived from Norwegian, they are English words that can be found in Merriam-Webster Unabridged.The phenomenon of "x cheese" cheese-naming is visible in words derived from other languages as well: schmierkase, which is cottage cheese, means "smear cheese" in German.
    Another notable cheese-naming pattern involves geographical names. Cabrales, a blue cheese, is named for the municipality in Asturias, Spain in which it is made. Caerphilly, a mild white Welsh cheese, carries the name of an urban area in Wales. 
    Most people love cheese, although some hate it. It's undeniable, however, that the many unique cheese names and their origins are fascinating.

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