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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread felo de se #119589 01/11/2004 7:37 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 "Adam shook his head. "No troops," he sighed. "I told my Chief about it, and he said we must wait till they chopped a white man. He advised me if ever I felt like it not to commit a--a barren felo de se, but to let the Sheshaheli do it. Then he could report, and then we could mop 'em up!" I think "felo de se" = suicide. I'll search for it. A felon of himself; a self-murderer. To be guilty of this offence, the deceased must have had the will and intention of committing it, or else he committed no crime. As he is beyond the reach of human laws, he cannot be punished. English law used to inflict a punishment by a barbarous burial of his body, and by forfeiting to the king the property which he owned and which would belong to his relations. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: felo de se #119590 01/11/2004 7:48 PM Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 1,475 California jheem veteran jheem veteran Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 1,475 California You're right. According to Cecil Adams, it's a Latin legal phrase: see <A HREF="http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_139.html" target="_new">http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_139.html</A>. It seems more like French phrase. Our <i>felon</i> is probably of Germanic origin, via Anglo-Norman. Yup, just looked <i>felo-de-se</i> up in the OED. It's described as Anglo-Latin. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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