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From: Year of Wonder, by Geraldine Brooks
The Hall had... two big bacon settles... at leaf-fall, just afer the hog were slaughtered, the scent of new-cured flitches hanging inside could be overpowering.
i know a settle can be a high backed bench, with built in storage, but flitches i have never heard of! (again, the text makes the meaning of the word somewhat evident)
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Pooh-Bah
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I think butchers here still use the word flitch, then there is the famous Dunmow flitch. The Dunmow Flitch Trials is one of the few genuine famous folk ceremonies left in this materialistic age. The trial requires a married couple to stand before a mock court, and prove that they have, for a year and a day, 'not wished themselves unwed' If they are able to do so, to the satisfaction of the judge and jury (six maidens and six bachelors of Dunmow), then they are awarded half a pig, known as a 'flitch' of bacon. http://www.saffire.org.uk/saffire/history/flitch.html
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Carpal Tunnel
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I don't recall hearing the word before, either. Atomica has it, though:
flitch (flĭch)
n.
1. A salted and cured side of bacon.
2. A longitudinal cut from the trunk of a tree.
3. One of several planks secured together to form a single beam.
[Middle English flicche, from Old English flicce.]
From dxb's link:
Then the pilgrim was taken on men's shoulders, and carried, first about the priory church and yard, and afterwards through the village, attended by monks of the convent. The bacon was borne in triumph before them.
Could this be where the phrase 'bringing home the bacon' came from?
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Pooh-Bah
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That was a good thought. Found this on a 'food reference' site: The origin of the expression "bringing home the bacon" is uncertain. It might come from the English custom, which originated in the 12th century, of giving a young couple bacon if they were still happy after a year of marriage. Maybe it comes from the 'greased pig' competition at fairs, the winner bringing home the bacon (the pig). Or maybe bacon is meant to represent all food, since it is very ancient, having been a favorite of the early Romans and Greeks. The link to the thread in case anyone's interested: http://www.foodreference.com/html/artbaconhome.html
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Carpal Tunnel
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When I was a boy I often heard "flitch of bacon" meaning a
piece about 6"x2"x12" of bacon with skin still on one side.
A bit of a pain trying to cut uniform slices thin enough to fry readily.
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I leqrned something, Helen, with your off-hand definition of a settle. The settles I was familiar with are moe properly called settle tables. The back of the bench folds down to make a table over the storage compartment. These were used so the owners could fold up the table top and push the whole thing against the wall, where it became seating. I've made small settle tables for the kids, but had previously not seen a settle as just a high-backed bench.
Thanks!
TEd
PS:
You read the most interesting books!!!!
TEd
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Here's a pic of a characteristic (17th C.) oak settle, TEd - if you want to use me as a guinea pig to house your first attempt at making one, feel free! In the 19th C. they'd often be made of pine ~ presumably as much of our best oak had been slaughtered around the turn of the century, in the name of wars against the French, the Americans and other unruly elements... :) http://antiques-internet.com/colorado/eronjohnsonantiques/dynapage/IP5826.htm
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And here's the settle table: http://www.cakirk.com/ShakerSettleTable.htmYou can see the family resemblance to the one you so kindly provided the picture of. All you'd have to do is detach the back of the settle and put hinges where the back meets the arms. Cello! A settle table.
TEd
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I had half forgotten that about settle's like that, Ted.. once you mentioned the settle tables, i knew exactly what you were speaking of (and have seen them in restoration villiages) but i most often think of a settle as something by a front door or mud room, or better yet, in an inglenook!
some settles could also be fashioned into beds/cots for an overflow of relatives/guest.
but these are rare- they were popular with the local quakers, and used as hiding places for escaping slaves. most of long island's north shore has traces of the old underground railroad, mostly assocaiated with quaker meeting houses.
during construction of a high rise (10 story) building in the 1930's, an old tunnel was found that connected a meeting house with a home own by a quaker family. the family retained ownership till the late 1950's, and now the house, the original part dating from the 1650's) is a museum. the tunnel was almost a mile long, and still mostly intact!
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When I was a boy, we had something that looked just like the settle in mav's link, except back did not make a table.
It was called a "settee" and was in a little anteroom, and the chest held rubbers and boots. You sat on it to put on or take off rubbers (forget UK name) or boots so as not to track mud into living room.
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rubbers (forget UK name)
Wellies, Bill (as in Sir Arthur)
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Pooh-Bah
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>Wellies, Bill (as in Sir Arthur)
I beg to differ.
I thought that rubbers were galoshes. Now, what are galoshes?
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How she managed to get through that evening, Polly never knew, yet it was not a long one, for at eight o'clock she slipped out of the room, meaning to run home alone, and not compel any one to serve as escort. But she did not succeed, for as she stood warming her rubbers at the dining-room fire, wondering pensively as she did so if Maria Bailey had small feet, and if Tom ever put her rubbers on for her, the little overshoes were taken out of her hands…From: An Old-Fashioned Girl. by Louisa May Alcott. Originally published: Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1870. This edition: Boston: Little, Brown, 1950 (copyright 1870; 1897, 1898, 1910, 1911.) You’re right too, Jo. The Word Defective confirms thusly: In any case, "galosh" is indeed the proper term for just one of what are also called "overshoes" or "rain boots" in the U.S., "rubbers" being the more prevalent term in Britain. The last pair of galoshes that I owned (circa 1962) were ankle-length rubber boots that were supposed to, but usually didn't, fit over your shoes, and were fastened with a series of nasty little clamps designed to painfully pinch your fingers if you actually managed to wedge your feet into them. I think galoshes now come with zippers, but I'm still not interested.
Although galoshes as we know (or knew) them appeared in the 19th century, the term itself is considerably older. When "galosh" first entered English in the 14th century, it usually referred to a wooden sandal or clog (although "galosh" was also applied to almost any kind of shoe). "Galosh" comes from the French word "galoche," which is probably related to the medieval Latin "galopedium," meaning "wooden shoe." One authority believes that the ultimate source was the Latin "gallica," a short form of "Gallica solea," or "Gallic sandal."
http://www.word-detective.com/110999.htmlMe? I have only ever heard a far more contemporary context for the expression rubbers, and I don’t think even Trojans would have gone to war in the wet with these over their size ten feet!
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On the other hand, this apparently by an American writer! Wellies - Wellington Boots, named after the Duke of Wellington. Similar to our galoshes. However, some of her other defs are moron a bit suspect… http://www.bbcprograms.com/pbs/insider/webcontent/nov02/glossary.docDucking again (edit) ~ Seems to also be confirmed by some amateurs’ ‘dictionary’ sites, like this one from the UK side…. wellingtons n. More correctly referred to as Wellington boots (and more often as wellies), Americans will know these as rubber boots or galoshes. Named after the Duke of the same name (you know, the one with the smelly feet).
welly adv. 1. A single wellington boot. 2. (Scot) Mostly related to driving automobiles, the word "welly" is used (most commonly in the context "give it some welly") to urge a bit more bravado on the accelerator pedal. This may or may not be related to the "wellington boot" definition.http://english2american.com/dictionary/w.htmland like this one from an American who lived in the UK for over a decade: http://www.travelfurther.net/index.htm
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i always thought wellies were rubber boots, but not over boots. (you slip your stocking feet into wellies, and old ladies wear them in the garden, and step out of them at the garden gate, or back door, and put on shoes or slippers.)
galoshes, are over boots... as Mav rightly points out, they had latches (that would only latch when warm, but once you trudged through the snow, and the metal was cold it would contract, and be impossible to open again or latch.
most women now were leather dressy boots, in the snow.. not welly type or galoshes.
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Pooh-Bah
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you slip your stocking feet into wellies ~ of troy
Yep! In Britland (or my bit of it anyway), wellington boots are worn straight on the feet just like any other boot, good for dog walking etc. The type of strong rubber boots worn on construction sites are known as gum boots. Overshoes can be called galoshes (seldom heard now) but more usually just ‘overshoes’ and seem to be mainly used for slipping on when just popping into the garden (or yard as USns call it). A quote from Word Detective:
"Galosh" comes from the French word "galoche," which is probably related to the medieval Latin "galopedium," meaning "wooden shoe." One authority believes that the ultimate source was the Latin "gallica," a short form of "Gallica solea," or "Gallic sandal."
WD also claims that Brits use the term ‘rubbers’ for this footware. I have never heard them called that. Rubbers are for deleting stuff, except in the US where they are for preventing stuff.
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A quote from Word Detective:...Ahem. David Crystal in his volume discussing Language and the Internet quotes research by Davis & Brewer which suggests that most contributors to a forum like this “read on average only between five and seven other postings before sending their own”. To start repeating material after only 4 posts invites repetetititiiveness – I suggest a christening of this effect as Chopped Liver Index, calculated as the number of intervening posts divided into the overall number of posts in the thread ;) David Crystal, (2001) Language and the Internet, Cambridge University Press: ISBN 0521802121 http://www.cambridge.org
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Pooh-Bah
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Hmmm! Can I plead that this is a first offence, albeit rather an obversight®? (Compound of obvious and oversight). As for a Chopped Liver Index (CLI), I think metrics are great as they are the main tool needed to achieve Continual Improvement (CI). Trouble is you need someone to track and record them. Is there an SPC doctor on board? 
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Chopped Liver Index, calculated as the number of intervening posts divided into the overall number of posts in the thread
This would be complicated by the fact that the number of intervening posts might be considerably different for threadnodists and flatliners.
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I thought that rubbers were galoshes. Er-hem: I thought rubbers were erasers!
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RE: Rubbers are for deleting stuff, except in the US where they are for preventing stuff.
it took me a while, but i realized.. a rubber is something that is sometimes worn by a guy to prevent stuff... as dxb so discretely puts it, but rubbers are still boots..
a rubber could also be a round of bridge, too (i have no idea why)
i know the english use a rubber to mean an eraser --or as it is sometimes called (at least in NYC) art gum (after a well known brand of erasers/rubbers) art gum came as a block about 1 inch x 1 inch x 2 inches.. and bored kids would use them to create rubber stamps.. they could be inked up with ink from a fountain pen.
gimme the art gum. would be understood by my son and daughter too, but they were both into art, i don't know if most people their age would use the expression. (the brand still exist, and is still commonly used.)
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Pooh-Bah
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Trust Jackie to take us back to the gutter - the previous hints were more than enough for most of us!
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Pooh-Bah
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>folks of the British persuasion refer to them as wellies
One prefers one's Hunters http://www.wellie-boots.com/ukmofcart/shooting.html and fyi the only acceptable colour is green.
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first offence
Well as Father Steve so wisely remarked ages ago, most appellants don't seek justice so much as mercy ~ and since the quality of that is never strained I'm sure of Troy will go lightly with the wet noodle flagellation :) I like your coinage btw, if not your metric rulers...
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metric rulers
Like, the King of Kilometers, or something?
Trust Jackie to take us back to the gutter I try, I try!
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...did we ever figure out why best-two-games-out-of-three in Contract Bridge is called a rubber?
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why best-two-games-out-of-three in Contract Bridge is called a rubber?
Good question, wofa! Why don't we ask our reigning champion? Mav?
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