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#170646 - 10/16/07 07:18 AM flannel merchant?
linguophile stranger Registered: 10/16/07 Posts: 1	I heard this term on a show on BBC America & I had to wonder not only about the meaning but about the derivation... Its obviously a derogatory term, but what specifically does it mean & where does it come from?
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#170649 - 10/16/07 11:38 AM Re: flannel merchant? [Re: linguophile]
dalehileman Pooh-Bah Registered: 07/10/05 Posts: 1773 Loc: Apple Valley, CA, USA	Apparently it's mostly spelled with an "a" and I doubt if it has a special etymology http://www.bartleby.com/61/59/L0185925.html _________________________ dalehileman
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#170650 - 10/16/07 11:43 AM Re: flannel merchant? [Re: dalehileman]
Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Registered: 06/24/02 Posts: 6690 Loc: Vermont	dale, I think linguo is hoping to understand the phrase "flannel merchant" not linguaphile. welcome, linguo! and I've never heard the phrase flannel merchant. as you say, it is a British usage, and hopefully, one of us from those parts will inform us! Edited by etaoin (10/16/07 12:14 PM)
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#170652 - 10/16/07 12:07 PM Re: flannel merchant? [Re: Buffalo Shrdlu]
AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Registered: 03/15/00 Posts: 6489 Loc: lower upstate New York	I've never heard the expression. All I can contribute is that "flannel" means washcloth in the UK...
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#170653 - 10/16/07 12:10 PM Re: flannel merchant? [Re: Buffalo Shrdlu]
tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Registered: 04/03/00 Posts: 9577 Loc: this too shall pass	and note that linguo spells his username with an o - probly because linguaphile is reserved or summat. -ron o.
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#170654 - 10/16/07 12:32 PM Re: flannel merchant? [Re: tsuwm]
Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Registered: 06/24/02 Posts: 6690 Loc: Vermont	Originally Posted By: tsuwm and note that linguo spells his username with an o - probly because linguaphile is reserved or summat. -ron o. o.O oops.
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#170655 - 10/16/07 12:37 PM Re: flannel merchant? [Re: tsuwm]
BranShea Carpal Tunnel Registered: 06/23/06 Posts: 3764 Loc: Netherlands, the Hague	From about those parts; From Collins humongous Eng. Dictionary, specially published for their 175 years birthday. flannel: 1. a soft light woolen fabric There's 8 definitions in total. 8. Brit. informal:verb; to talk evasively to; flatter in order to mislead The same dictionary gives for merchant: 6 definitions of which 5. derogatary: a person dealing or involved in something undesirable: a gossip merchant Maybe the two are also used combined?
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#170664 - 10/16/07 08:53 PM Re: flannel merchant? [Re: BranShea]
Hydra addict Registered: 08/02/06 Posts: 631	A flannel merchant is a sycophant.
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#170669 - 10/17/07 07:39 AM Re: flannel merchant? [Re: Hydra]
Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Registered: 06/24/02 Posts: 6690 Loc: Vermont	Originally Posted By: Hydra A flannel merchant is a sycophant. but why?
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#170671 - 10/17/07 08:03 AM Re: flannel merchant? [Re: Buffalo Shrdlu]
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 12532	I think the question has boiled down to "why did 'flannel' come to mean to talk evasively to; flatter in order to mislead."
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