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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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homonyms? almost homonyms? or related words?
i stumbled across konops (greek (old greek)) for mosquito.. and discoved that a canopy is from the word for mosquito netting.. (OK, that works for me..) and canapé is related!
its not clear if the canapé is called that because the light topping to the bread or cracker is like a light curtain. or if because the bread is like the bed that the canopy covers.. but either way..
dontcha just love it when you find a fun connection like that?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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The original French canapé was a sort of couch/davenport/sofa (see earlier thread and read all about it) which had a kind of curtain suspended over it. French chefs somehow imagined that a bit of toast covered by a nummie or nummies looked enough like a curtained couch that they transfered the term to the goodie. I think.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Can you please define nummie, Father Steve? 
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Carpal Tunnel
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nummie, also spelled nummy. Noun. Good things to eat, particularly as distinguished from things to eat which are mostly good for you but not particularly tasty, flavourful nor appetizing. There is a food shop of some sort in Des Moines, Iowa, called Nan's Nummies. 2. Adjective. Tasty, good to eat, flavourful, appetizing. Nummy Muffin Cocoa Butter was the name of a radio program in Austin, Texas/ http://nummymuffincocoabutter.com/new/index2.html3. Exclamation. Expressing pleasure upon eating something which tastes good, is delightful, pleasing to the palate. There is an episode of The Simpsons in which Ned Flanders, their next-door neighbour, invites Homer to a barbecue. "Come on over and strap on the feed bag. We're going to fire up old Propane Elaine and put the heat on the meat! Nummy-nummy-num!" Etymology unknown, perhaps related to yummie, also spelled yummy. ~The Old Padre's Dictionary of Words I Use Whether You Like Them or Not and What I Mean by Them (copyright pending).
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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yes, i did leave out the french intermediary.
a canapé was french for a 'upholstered seat, with a top curtain". the seat name was borrowed a name for the greek word for a bed curtain (mosquito net curtain) a worded rooted in the term for mosquito.
but its not clear if a canapé is named for the 'bread' (seat) or for the top 'nummy' (curtain).
i don't remember canapé coming up in the 'what do you call the furnature you sit on thread.. of course that could just be a senior moment on my part.. -(likely to be, in fact)
still makes interestin cocktail party conversation.. (to bad i never get invited to any.)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Helen ~
I no longer throw cocktail parties because I no longer drink cocktails. But, if I did, I'd be pleased to invite you ... to spice up the conversation with such tidbits as these.
Stephen
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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In reply to:
nummie, also spelled nummy.
Noun. Good things to eat, particularly as distinguished from things to eat which are mostly good for you but not particularly tasty, flavourful nor appetizing.
Oh. Food, as opposed to nutrition.
Bingley
Bingley
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veteran
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veteran
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a canapé was french for a 'upholstered seat, with a top curtain""Canopy" also gives us tree canopy - the 'top curtain' of a tree-lined street or trail. Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.Would Kilmer appreciate the irony of this quotation, I wonder. No matter, I'm sure others will. :) http://snipurl.com/gorf
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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yes, "tree canopy" is valid--but it usually used to describe the tops of trees in a forest.
a tree lined street,allée, or driveway is more often called a 'bowery'.
NYC's 'bowery' (a continuation of lower half of 2nd Avenue) got its name because it was originally the driveway to the country estate of retired Governor Styvatston(sp?). the estate was planned around the native trees, and right from the beginning had a bowery, and was called The Bowery.
in the 1930, the area was rather seedy, and most people today are more family with 'The Bowery Boys' (a movie series of films about a bunch of borderline juvenile delinquents,) or from the term 'bowery bum' (aka an alcoholic).
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stranger
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stranger
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The Bow’ry, the Bow’ry!
They say such things,
And they do strange things
On the Bow’ry! The Bow’ry!
I’ll never go there anymore!
http://www.barrypopik.com/article/360/the-bowery-1892
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