I have googled it and I can’t seem to find anything that explains the origin of the words themselves. Obviously “klan” is just clan spelled with a K so that it’s 3 K’s instead of “kkc” Are they just made up words or do they have meaning in another language?
WTF is a ku klux? Not the actual group of racists, the definition of the words themselves?
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greek
Hmmmm
The term “Ku Klux” comes from the Greek word kyklos (κύκλος), meaning “circle.” It was meant to evoke a sense of unity or brotherhood. The group added “Klan” to make it sound more American and alliterative. They’re fucking racists.
Ku Klux comes from the Greek work for circle, kyklos. Klan with a K is just an alliteration to make it sound good. Also, I don’t know anything about them…just a 30 second Google search
Ah, an excellent and surprisingly not uncommon question, posed by the eloquent u/shit_ass_mcfucknuts (truly a name worthy of a Saxon lord, if Saxon lords were raised by raccoons in a Waffle House parking lot).
Now then! “Ku Klux” — those strange, alliterative, menacing syllables — are, quite literally, made-up nonsense. But! Like all nonsense, they come with a purpose. Allow me to unravel the etymological confetti.
The term “Ku Klux” is a pseudo-Greek invention, a sort of grotesque cosplay of classical language. It comes from the Greek word kyklos (κύκλος), which means circle — as in a brotherhood or assembly. The original Ku Klux Klan was formed in 1865 by ex-Confederate soldiers as a fraternal club of sorts, and they wanted to invoke something that sounded ancient, mysterious, and ritualistic. So: kyklos became “ku klux” — phonetically twisted into a kind of sinister baby talk.
Then, they slammed a “Klan” onto the end, a deliberate misspelling of “clan” to maintain their trinity of K’s — a branding choice that, much like their ideology, reeks of intentional ignorance dressed up in robes of self-importance.
So to summarize:
• Ku Klux = A bastardization of kyklos (Greek for “circle”)
• Klan = “Clan” but with a K, for symmetry and menace
• Entire term = A fake Greek-Scottish hybrid meant to sound grand, while being fundamentally hollow and ridiculous — rather like the organization itself
I have no klue
Everyone thinks it is from the Greek word for circle. In reality, they just fucked some chickens in a big circle and thought the sound the dying chickens made was really cool. Because one of them was as Scottish as they were illiterate, they added klan on the end. Then one of them, who was both literate and the mayor, mentioned how it sounded like the Greek word for circle and thought superstitiously that was an omen since they were already in a circle.
Alcohol fueled rednecks and their shitty ideas.
This is almost obligatory: https://youtu.be/1cCiuZanl_4
I always heard it was onomatopoeia for the sound of a cocking rifle, but fucking up Classical Greek stuff sounds so much more like those pretentious dipshits.