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The originals were, as was claimed by The History Channel, the British "sappers" of WWII. Where did 'sapper' come from?
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Where did 'sapper' come from?
Good question. I'm glad you asked that.
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aw, faldage, I wanted to take it. Perhaps our french-speakers (bel?) could add a special perspective?
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Dear Faldage: I also am glad he asked, but have taken the trouble to find out. The business of undermining city walls in a siege is very ancient - Remember Jericho? De trumpet blow, and de walls came a rumblin' down. Here is a URL with a lot of interesting information: http://www.clanntartan.org/articles/sappers.html
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taken the trouble to find out
I knew I could count on you, Dr. Bill. Thanks.
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from the link: Although the Italian word zappa had long been used to denote a garden hoeSo Frank was a garden hoe? And what's more...did he know that? The Only WO'N!
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Dear WO'N: I hope that doesn't make his daughters hoers.
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Yet, sap in its other incarnations is, according to Webster's Unabridged 1913, of uncertain origin. Any thing else in the OED?
Sap \Sap\, n. [AS. s[ae]p; akin to OHG. saf, G. saft, Icel. safi; of uncertain origin; possibly akin to L. sapere to taste, to be wise, sapa must or new wine boiled thick. Cf. Sapid, Sapient.] 1. The juice of plants of any kind, especially the ascending and descending juices or circulating fluid essential to nutrition. Note: The ascending is the crude sap, the assimilation of which takes place in the leaves, when it becomes the elaborated sap suited to the growth of the plant. 2. The sapwood, or alburnum, of a tree. 3. A simpleton; a saphead; a milksop. [Slang]
The Only WO'N!
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Thanks for clarifying the question, W'ON. No, really!
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Dear WO'N: I hope that doesn't make his daughters hoers.Or hoers d'oeuvres! The Only WO'N!
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