Shona:
This is a GREAT pun (but anatomically a bit inaccurate since spaying has to do with ovaries, not bollocks.) And it's even better when you look up the word spay and discover that it arises "< ME spayen < Ofr. espeer, to cut with a sword < espee, sword < Lat. spatha. See spathe." And then you go to the derivation of spade (as in shovel) and find that it comes from old English spadu. Though in the dictionary at hand this explanation of the shovel word's origin stops there, I'd have to assume it comes from the latin spatha also.
Also of interest is the botanical spathe, which is the part of a jack-in-the-pulpit that looks almost like a parasol, and partially enclosing the spadix, a clublike spike bearing minute flowers. BUT! Spadix comes not from the same root but from the latin word spadix, a broken-off palm branch, derived from a similar Greek word.
Now WHY does this fascinate me so much? Do I need to get a life????
And you MUST run this through Aenigma and see what it gives back!!!
