Language, Sir!

I've been thinking about language these days - not only because I consider modern society has largely devalued it. Now, communications used to be my middle name, that's partly why I am worried!

What for example do you make of a government institution that sends out a  postage-paid survey postcard to you and others like you who've dedicated the bulk of you earthly belongings (20 out of 21 hectares) to conservation and specifies that you should not put a stamp on the franked card, or put it in an envelope because postage has been paid by the sender?

My instinctive reaction was: ils se moquent de moi! 'They' consider me to be a stupid /illiterate (cross out as inappropriate) member of modern-day society, who has to be told everything twice, nay, in triplicate before s/he'll accept it as read...

But in retrospect, I am inclined to consider this as an inherent failure of communication in our society! We tend to no longer communicate but to clothe everything in so many layers of reservations/explanations/apologies (lest we offend/hurt an unknown member of our group) that the resultant outcome is intellectual garbage.

Gimme a break! Here is one: some 60 years ago I found myself in Sweden, where I eventually spent at least two years of my life, and learned to speak Swedish quite fluently. The other day I started watching a Finnish TV series (Black Widows) in idle moments on my PC, and was surprised at how much Swedish I still understood! Yes I know, Suomi is totally different, but large parts of the series play in Sweden...

Hence the following observation that I hope one day to share with Wikipedia - if I can learn how to contribute edits - the root of the German word Minnesinger must be the Swedish 'minnas', namely to remember! And that is exactly what the early minnesinger did: they remembered their love as it was... and recall it with every couplet!

Over to you, etymologists...