"meat of a hog's hind leg used for food," 1637, from O.E. hamm "hollow or bend of the knee," from P.Gmc. *kham- (cf. O.N. höm, M.Du. hamme), from PIE *konemo- "shin bone," originally "be crooked" (cf. Gk. kneme "part between the knee and ankle," O.Ir. cnaim "bone"). Ham-fisted (1928) was originally in reference to pilots who were heavy on the controls.

I wonder if place names like Nottingham take their name endings from a river bend.

Edit:

I looked on Google Earth at several towns and cities in England whose names end in ham and all of them I looked at seemed to be at significant river bends, so I am thinking I guessed right.

Interesting - I had always seen it derived in place names from hamlet, but I supose that's just a diminutive form so wouldn't negate the sense of the suggestion.

I don't think that ham -ham, and hamlet are related. The placename -ham has a long a in Old English, and is basically the same word that became home in Present Day English. Hamlet is a diminutive and comes from Old French (via Norman). There it was a loanword from the same root as -ham, home, from a Germanic language, possibly Frankish.

Thanks, nuncle - you inspired me to turn my study upsidedown to find my OED CD again at long last! I should have known better than to post an assumption or a WAG.

I should have known better than to post an assumption or a WAG.

Perhaps, but at least it was a SWAG or, at minimum, an EWAG.

PS: I asked Santa for a CD OED for Christmas three years running but I think I must be on his bad list.

Father Steve, you may want to pay close attention to the second paragraph of this review I found:
Gads!, what a great reference work to have at one's fingertips with all its many sophisticated search functions, and with the capability for one to double-click on any word in any Windows application running on the computer, and immediately have that word's entry in the OED displayed for one's perusal (the OED must be running in the background for this function to work).

Is there any small downside to this information prodigy of the computer age? Why, yes, there is. I've never in my life encountered such a protected piece of software. In order to defend itself against unauthorized copying and use, not only does the software require annoyingly picky verification and registration on first installing and booting up, but every 90 days it requires you to re-verify, and re-register the software so that it knows it's still running on the same machine on which it was first installed. If that re-verification and re-registration fails, the software will refuse to boot the dictionary.

I've mixed feelings about that sort of protection. On one hand, it's a pain in the ass, and seems excessive. On the other, had I the investment Oxford University Press has in the OED, I'd damn well protect my property and profits by any means possible, and screw the occasional annoyance and inconvenience to the user.

sounds and fury

On the other hand, I found a couple of sites that have the set on sale; one was $229, the other $225.

> every 90 days it requires you to re-verify, and re-register the software

yep, it's a bloody nuisance, especially when you mislay the disks for a while...!

Is there, perhaps, some advantage to having a personal subscription to the on-line OED? I found the following at O's website:

-------------------------------------------

The Oxford English Dictionary Online is available to individuals by prepaid subscription. You may select either an annual or monthly payment plan:

( ) Annual Subscription: $295.00*

( ) Monthly Subscription: Pay only $29.95* each month. For your convenience, your subscription will be automatically renewed each month unless you decline renewal prior to the expiration of each monthly term. Instructions on how to decline renewal will be sent to you via e-mail within 24 hours.

----------------------------------------

This would eliminate the 90-day re-verification process of which Mav (and likely the rest of the world) complains. But one wonders if this on-line service runs in the background like the disk -- I doubt it -- and is therefor less desireable.

And why is it all so remarkably expensive?

some random thoughts on OED online:

- Quarterly releases of work in progress from the massive revision of the OED - material not available in any other form

- Add OED Online to your browser

With this feature, you can highlight a word in any web site, click the Search OED Online button on your browser toolbar, and your browser window will display the results of a Find Word search having been performed in OED Online on the selected text.

Please note that you need to have JavaScript enabled to add the Search OED Online button on to your browser toolbar. Further information is available.

- it's expensive because: (choose one)
a) it's the OED
b) it's a virtual monopoly
c) who's going to stop it?
d) all of the above

oh, and yah left out one, tsuwm:

e. It's the world's best; definitive scholarship that's beyond rubies.

Of course, for mundane use even American Heritage will do for the price...

edit: of course, you prolly assumed e is a subset of a but.

What's the upgrade policy, if you opt for the cd? Are the quarterlies issued at intervals? at a reasonable price?

If those options are available they have failed to make it clear. Come to that, they have failed to establish any relationship with me. hmm, mebbe they need a marketing consultant...