And speaking of sandwiches and tradenames, there is an article in today's paper reporting that Orlando Montagu, son of the 11th Earl of Sandwich and descendent of the inventor of a-piece-of-beef-between-two-slices-of-bread has opened a lunchtime delivery service in London. The Earl of Sandwich (the company, not the Dad) is funded by Robert Earl, the creator of Planet Hollywood, and seeks to capitalize on the fame of the family. "I think it's fair to say that never in the history of brand launches has there been a brand with such awareness, said Earl (Mr, not The).

I have long wondered how the "sandwich" was regarded as a new invention. In medieval days, diners got a big "trencher" of bread, on which was then laid a slab of meat. And it was bad manners to eat up the bread before the meat arrived. Later a crude wooden plate was called a trencher.
And trencherman became a word for a big eater.