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Isn't English a wonderful language?
Take the word bat, for example. Why do we use the same word to mean a flying rodent and a big stick you use to hit a round ball?
We don't.
bat (as in Dracula) comes to English ca. 1580 through the Middle English word bakke, which probably comes from the Old Swedish word nattbakka, which meant...well, bat (as in Dracula).
bat (as in Yogi Berra) comes to English before the 12th century (so before the year 1101) from the Old English word batt, which meant...again, bat (as in a solid stick).
So, technically (and it's all about the technicalities, baby!) bat isn't the same word used for two diverse things. It's two words with two completely separate etymologies that just happen to be spelled and pronounced the same way.
Isn't English wonderful?
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