Horn
Horns were a very prominent symbol in the ancient world, and they also seem to be a preferred spook symbol. It’s hard to pin down the exact joke though, because it’s not clear which language the horn puns originated in. Since the word horn is similar in many languages, I list several possible puns here. The most promising are Greek hypso-keratos punning with hypo-krites for “pretender” & “hypocrite”, and Semitic qeren punning with akharon for “other” & “another”.
Horn puns in a nutshell
The horn occurs very often in spooky symbolism. Many researchers quickly conclude that it’s a symbol for “power”, or “Baal” or somesuch, but I am certain that famous symbols are typically secret puns on top of that. (I am also certain that the elites never believed in “Baal”.)
Yet I am not fully sure what the horn is supposed to pun with. The best possible puns are Greek, though there are also possible Semitic ones. I list those puns here that I find most plausible. As usual with mostly context-less symbolism, many cannot be confirmed, so I may have missed some important ones.
- Horns have been symbols & ornaments in countless cultures. The very word “horn” is even the the same in many languages. It stems from an archaic word root √kr-.
- This word root for horn is found in English horn, Latin cornu, Greek keras, Hebrew qeren, plus countless other languages.
- The spooks seem to like the horn as a symbols for their deception. Being “horned” has even become an idiom for being cheated by one’s wife, stemming from Italian cornuto. This may be related to Latin carino & Italian scorna, both meaning “mockery” & “scorn” (see corona).
- Greek language has a wealth of words that are homonymous to horns κερας keras in Greek), many connected to deception. Good spooky puns are more difficult to find in Latin & Hebrew.
- One possible spook pun is Greek hypo-kerato / Latin hypo-cornu for “under horns”, with Greek hypo-krino / Latin hypo-crita for “pretending” & “enacting” (literally “under arrangement”). Since all words had both T and N forms, you could probably make the pun work in either language.
- Another possible spook pun is Greek τα κερατα μου ta kerata mou for “my horns”, with κερτομεω kertomeo for “mocking” & “ridicule”.
- Another possible spook pun is with Greek κρουσις krousis for “deception” & “cheatery”.
- Another possible spook pun is with Greek κραινω kraino for “ruling” & “making things happen”.
- The Semitic word קרן qrn for “horn” also puns with אחרן ˀḥrn for “other” & “another one”. By sheer coincidence, this loosely fits the Greek pun with “pretending”. It also fits with Italian cornuto implying that one’s wife has “another one”, though that may also be a pun with scornato for “humiliation” (see corona).
- Horn puns may apply to many other homonymous spook symbols, such as the crown or corona.
Latin horn puns
The Latin word for “horn” is cornu, but there are few Latin words with an ovbious link to spookery.
Latin cornu as pun with carino for “mockery”
Latin cornu for “horn” can also mean “power”, as in most languages. But since spookery is about concealed power and deception, the best spook pun may be with Latin carino for “scorn” & “mockery”, possibly related to Italian scorno and even English scorn. I can find only few references to this word though, perhaps the wider word root has been kept out of texts & dictionaries. The meaning of “mockery” is only found by its synonymity to illudens.
This word root overlap is likely also the origin of the Italian cornuto gesture
This pun works even better with the word corona, that’s likely why it was used in the Coronahoax.
Latin, Italian carino, scorno = mock, scorn
carino : to abuse, revile, blame (= irrideo); carinantes = illudentes [illudens = mocking, ridiculing]; for scarinare, root in scortum — Latin (LSJ.gr)
carino : revile, blame; insult; From Proto-Indo-European *kr-n-. Compare Old Irish caire (“sin”), Old English hierwan (“to moke”), Ancient Greek κάρνη (kárnē, “penalty”), Tocharian B karn- (“to vex”) and Lithuanian káirinti (“to provoke”) — Latin (Wikt)
scorno : humiliation, shame — Italian (Wikt)
scornatura : scorn, mockery — Italian (Wikt)
Greek keratos as pun with Latin creatus
Another possible pun for the horn as a hoax marker is Greek keras / keratos for “horn” punning with Latin creas / creatus for “created”, i.e. invented. It would be a multi-lingual pun though, as Latin cornu doesn’t match.
Latin creatus = create, created
Greek horn puns
The horn puns that work best are Greek. Greek for “horn” is κερας keras. Greek language has so many words starting with kr, it’s even impossible to list them all here. I’ll concentrate on the most spooky ones.
Greek hypo-krites for “pretender”
To make this pun work, you have to add the prefix hypo- “under”, or a punny substitute like hypso- “high”. The full term is then hypso-keras or hypso-keratos for “lofty horns”, which puns with hypo-krisis for “enacting” & “pretense”, and with hypo-krites for “staged actor” & “pretender” (English hypocrite).
Since the verb form hypo-krino is N-suffixed, this pun also works with crowns & coronas. This may be the reason why kings & popes are always depicted with these symbols: They’re stage actors & pretenders! It may also explain the Coronavirus hoax.
Greek hypo-krino = enact, play a part, feign, pretend, deceive, hypocrite
ὑποκρίνω hypokrinō : expound, interpret, explain; speak in dialogue, hence play a part on the stage; play a part, be an actor; play a part, feign, pretend; deceive — Ancient Greek (LSJ.gr)
ὑποκρίνομαι hypokrinomai : to make answer (speak) on the stage, i.e. to personate anyone, play a part; to simulate, feign, pretend — Ancient Greek (LSJ.gr)
ῠ̔ποκρῑ́νομαι hupokrī́nomai : to answer: to interpret; (Attic) to dialogue, to answer on the stage; to play a part, be an actor; (figurative) to feign, to dissemble — Ancient Greek (Wikt)
ῠ̔πόκρῐσῐς hupókrisis : reply, answer; the part of an actor or orator: delivery, delivery, elocution, act; outward show, hypocrisy, pretense — Ancient Greek (Wikt)
ῠ̔ποκρῐτής hupokritḗs : one who answers: interpreter, expounder; stage actor; pretender, dissembler, hypocrite — Ancient Greek (Wikt)
Greek kertomeo for “mockery”
Another possible pun is Greek τα κερατα μου ta kerata mou for “my horns” (and slang for “too much”), with κερτομεω kertomeo for “mocking” & “ridicule”.
Greek kertomeo = mock, joke, sneer
κερτομέω kertomeo : taunt, insult, mock, ridicule; sneer at — Ancient Greek (LSJ.gr)
κερτομεῖν kertomein : mock, jeer at, sneer at — Ancient Greek (LSJ.gr)
κέρτομος kertomos : mocking, delusive; deceptive — Ancient Greek (LSJ.gr)
κερτόμιος kertomios : heart-cutting, stinging, reproachful; mocking, delusive — Ancient Greek (LSJ.gr)
κερτόμησις kertomesis : jeering, mockery — Ancient Greek (LSJ.gr)
κερτομία kertomia : a mockery — Ancient Greek (LSJ.gr)
Greek kyros for “power”
Greek κερας keras for “horn” also puns with Greek κυρος kyros for “power” & “authority”. This is how horns are usually interpreted though, so it wouldn’t be a very “secret” pun.
Greek kyros = power; kara = head
κῦρος kyros : supreme power, authority; concrete, one invested with authority; confirmation, validity — Ancient Greek (LSJ.gr)
κύριος kyrios : of persons, having power or authority over; having authority, supreme; ordained, appointed; legitimate, lawful; lord, master; guardian, trustee — Ancient Greek (LSJ.gr)
κάρα kara : head of men or animals; peak, top — Ancient Greek (LSJ.gr)
Semitic horn puns
Semitic horn puns don’t work as well as the Greek ones. Hebrew for “horn” is קרן qeren. The problem here is that Semitic horn puns rely on combinations of prefixes & suffixes which are not listed by the dictionaries, and for which there are often no attestations. It’s also possible that I’ve overlooked more straighforward puns.
Hebrew qrn for “finance”
The Hebrew word קרן qrn means “horn”, but also “financial capital”. The horn may this be used by spooks to mean “finance”. This doesn’t work as a hoax marker though.
Hebrew qrn = power, financial capital
Semitic ˀḥr-n for “other”
The main idea of spookery is that powerful aristocrats feign to be “other” people, especially commoners.
The most spooky Semitic pun for qrn “horn” is thus with ˀḥrn for “other” & “another”.
- The Semitic word root ˀḥr / ˀḫr means “behind”, “last”, “other”.
- It is written with Ḥet or Ḫa, which is often close to K, depending on the Semitic dialect. To make the pun more K-ish, you could even add a K-prefix, which would make it mean “like another”.
- It can also be N-suffixed to ˀḥr-n / ˀḫr-n. In Hebrew that means mostly “last one”, in Arabic “others” in plural, in Aramaic “other” in all forms.
- Since ˀḥr can be N-suffixed in all its meanings, all Semitic speakers would understand ˀḥr-n as “other” in the right context.
- That means ˀḥr-n for “another one” can be a Semitic pun with qrn for Horn.
- In several languages, being “horned” means that your wife has “another one”. In Italy, that’s called cornuto. ˀḥr-n for “adultery with others” occurs in Peshitta Mark 10:12, Peshitta Romans 7:3. There’s even a Biblical Job verse confirming this pun.
- Another confirmation is that Moses is often depicted with horns (from Exodus 34:29), and was also the brother of Aaron who puns with “another” as well.
Semitic ˀḫr, ˀḥr, ˀḥr-n = other, another
אחרן ˀḥrn ochoran : another, one else, other, someone else — Aramaic (Strong)
אחרון ˀḥrwn ˀakharón : last (final) — Hebrew (Wikt)
אחרון ˀḥrwn acharón : one of the Acharonim, modern sages of Jewish law — Hebrew (Wikt)
חרן ḥrn : → ˀwḥrn: other — Aramaic (CAL)
אוחרן ˀwḥrn : other; different from — Aramaic (CAL)
אחרני ˀḥrny : different; distinctly different; in compounds: characterizing otherness — Aramaic (CAL)
אחרנאית ˀḥrnˀyt : otherwise; otherwise, differently — Aramaic (CAL)
אחרניו ; אחרניותא ˀḥrnyw ; ˀḥrnywtˀ : otherness — Aramaic (CAL)
آخَرُون ˀḫrwn ˀāḵarūn : masculine plural of آخَر (ˀāḵar) — Arabic (Wikt)
آخَر ˀḫr ˀāḵar : another, one more, other — Arabic (Wikt)
And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.
wˀn ˀnttˀ tšrˀ bˁlh wthwˀ lˀḥrnˀ gyrˀ
ܘܶܐܢ ܐܰܢ݈ܬ݁ܬ݂ܳܐ ܬ݁ܶܫܪܶܐ ܒ݁ܰܥܠܳܗ ܘܬ݂ܶܗܘܶܐ ܠܰܐ݈ܚܪܺܢܳܐ ܓ݁ܳܝܪܳܐ
Job 31:10 as origin of “horned”
As for adultery with “another”, there’s even one curious occurrence in the Hebrew Old Testament, in Job 31:10. Here, Job describes how his wife may get another man after his death: “She’s grinding [flour] for another, and others bow down on her.” However, both verbs in the verse are ambiguous and can be read sexually. Also, 3 words in the verse are made to pun with “horn”. These jokes predate the Italian cornuto pun.
The first joke is a direct, smutty one, half-admitted:
- The verb ṭḥn for “she’s grinding for him” is suspicious in the sexual context. The Bible translators all chastely go with “preparing his meal”. But some dictionaries explicitly give the meaning “intercourse” for this word, probably from the pounding movement.
- The same goes for the expression krˁwn for some other man “bowing down” on Job’s wife. Here, even some Bible translations (NET, NIV) go with “sexual relations”.
But there’s another figurative joke with horns:
- Note how ˀḥryn for “other” is made to rhyme with ykrˁwn for “bowing down”. All K-ish letters are interchangeable, and the words are here N-suffixed to sound like qrn “horn”.
- The expresion ˁl-yh for “upon her” also means “on her account” or “on her behalf” (Genesis 26:9, Leviticus 15:30).
- The Job expression עליה יכרעון אחרין ˁlyh-ykrˁwn-ˀḥryn means “over her bows down another one”.
- A similar phrase עליה קרן וקרן ˁlyh-qrn-wqrn would mean “upon her [account], a horn and a horn”.
- The whole verse can thus be read as “she “grinds” another man, so on her account, [I have] a horn and a horn”, i.e. she would have “horned” her husband, as with our modern idiom.
While this isn’t directly related to spookery, it proves that the elites inserted secret jokes into the Bible, and confirms the pun of “horn” with “other”. And elites feigning to be “other” people is what makes them spooks!
Then let grind unto another [≈ horn] my wife, and upon her let bow down [≈ horn] others [≈ horn].
tṭḥn lˀḥr ˀšty wˁlyh ykrˁwn ˀḥryn
תטחן לאחר אשתי ועליה יכרעון אחרין
Hebrew ṭḥn = grind, intercourse; krˁ = bow down; ˁl = upon, because
Semitic k-ˀrˁ-n for “like it’s happening”
Most spook hoaxes have nothing behind them, i.e. the subjects are to believe that something is happening, while in reality nothing is happening.
A possible Semitic horn pun may thus be the phrase כארעון k-ˀrˁwn ki-eraon, which means “like it’s happening”. This would imply that “it” is not really happening.
The problem with this pun is that the K-prefixed grammar of this word is rare, and usually means “in the event of”. So unless I find some better matching attestations, I’d rather go with the “another” meaning, which can even be confirmed through Job, or with the Latin & Greek horn puns.