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>>>So people who don't speak our language are assumed to be dumb! This seems to be a common phenomemon. I have also heard that many people call themselves "people" in their own language, perhaps implying that they are the only "real people". For example, "Inuit" means "people" in their own language. The language of the Inka empire, Quechua, is also known as "Runa Simi", meaning something like the "toungue [or mouth?] of people".
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>>A similar thing seems to apply to most cultures' primary distilled drink; they all seem to mean "Water of Life", e..g. the Gaelic for whisky: "uisge beatha", the French have "Eau de Vie" (but can't remember which product), and I've heard many in my life but can't recall or quote them here.
>
>Also, "vodka" is diminutive of "voda", water.

That reminds me, I heard/read something very interesting about the origin of vodka recently - can't remember what it was.