Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 5 1 2 3 4 5
#119617 01/12/04 05:07 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
M
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
M
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Why was curried favour made with chestnuts originally?

Why is Doctor Who fighting the encyclopaedia?

And why is Batman a bastard?


Answers on a post, card.
Furst prize: a teddy bare
Second prize: 2



#119618 01/12/04 05:18 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
AUGHHHHHHHH, not again! I still haven't gotten over those horses! So, speaking of completely irrelevant:
REGIONAL NOTE When a Southerner favors a relative, he or she is not giving that person special privileges; rather, the Southerner looks like that relative. Favor can be either transitive—She favors her father—or intransitive with a compound subject: She and her father favor. This sense of favor goes back to early modern English: “This young lord Chamont/Favors my mother” (Ben Jonson). The verb derives from the noun favor, which was used from the 15th to the 19th century to mean “appearance, aspect; the countenance, face”: “What makes thy favor like the bloodless head/Fall'n on the block?” (Tennyson). This sense of the noun is now archaic, but the verb thrives in the English of the Southern United States.



#119619 01/12/04 05:30 PM
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
the irish alo use favor that way, jackie, (or did).

i grew up hearing it, but almost never use favor in that sense. (just as i don't ever use the word dear to mean expensive or pricey). but then the irish (as well as americans) have a long history of using word the english think to be archaic (just because they have stopped using them)

my ex husband hated when i used the verb to be, and meant 'leave me alone (to my self)'-- (Leave me be!)- even the beatles use of 'let it be' didn't molify him. he insisted it was an improper use.


#119620 01/12/04 05:35 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
... are the same verb in many languages (ger. lassen, port. deixar, e.g.) Maybe one of our resident scholars can affirm whether there used to be a single word in English which then split into the two nuanced forms.

~~~
Edit: Mav's quiz went straight over my head. [whooosh]


#119621 01/12/04 06:15 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
And it's a wise child who knows whom he favors.


#119622 01/12/04 06:51 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
J
veteran
Offline
veteran
J
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
Why was curried favour made with chestnuts originally?

A currycomb is used to groom a chestnut roan, if you'll pardon the redundance.




#119623 01/12/04 09:32 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
M
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
M
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Brilliant. One down, two to go...

~ and go on, nuncle, give 'em the etymology, don't just tease :)


#119624 01/12/04 10:38 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
>And why is Batman a bastard?

because Ubu said so.
-ron o.


#119625 01/12/04 11:13 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
J
veteran
Offline
veteran
J
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
Ta.

Curry fr. ME curreien, AN curreier 'to arrange, curry' fr. VL conredare 'to make ready'. Supposedly, curry favor is from ME currayen favel with favel, fauvel being a fallow colored horse, which was a symbol of deceit, so, to be hypocritical. [Cribbed from the AH dictionary.]

Curry, as in the yummy Indian food, from the kari leaf, Murraya koenigii, (kari is a Tamil or Dravidian word I assume), later transfered to the powder of many spices which is the curry powder of today.



#119626 01/12/04 11:29 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
M
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
M
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
and anyone who has groomed a horse will know of a curry comb.

so... Dr Who, created by Terry Nation....


Page 1 of 5 1 2 3 4 5

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,912
Posts229,283
Members9,179
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV, Heather_Turey, Standy
9,179 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 676 guests, and 4 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,510
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5