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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
It occurred to me that I had no idea as to its etymology:
counterpane
SYLLABICATION: coun·ter·pane
PRONUNCIATION: kountr-pn
NOUN: A cover for a bed; a bedspread.
ETYMOLOGY: Alteration of obsolete counterpoint, from Middle English countrepoint, from Old French contrepointe, alteration of coultepointe, from Medieval Latin culcita pncta, stitched quilt : Latin culcita, quilt, mattress; see quilt + Latin pnctus, stitched, pricked; see point.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
Isn't this one of the words Bill Bryant had problems with when he first arrived in Britain?
Bingley
Bingley
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
I first came across it reading historical novels, and then learned its history when i learned to do crewel work.
its not that uncommon. its just not an americanism.
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,126 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,126 Likes: 2 |
"When you're lying awake, with a dismal headache,
And repose is tabooed by anxiety,
I conceive you may use any language you choose
To indulge in, without impropriety.
For your brain is on fire, the bedclothes conspire
Of usual slumber to plunder you:
First your counterpane goes and uncovers your toes,
Then your sheet slips demurely from under you..."
. . . . . . . G&S, Iolanthe, Act II, "The Nightmare Song"
And didn't Robert Louis Stevenson write even earlier of "The Pleasant Land of Counterpane" ?
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