My lovely bride has deserted me, leaving town for a week and me without adult supervision. As is my custom, I made a pot of soup last night large enough to carry me through the weekend, at the rate of two bowls a day. This obviates the necessity of making any (further) decisions about what to eat.

In order to produce a lovely cauldron of vegetable-beef-barley soup, I bought a bag of barley at the local grocer's. I am accustomed to buying bags of barley labeled "pearl barley" but the one I bought last night bears the description "pearled barley." That got me to wondering, which is further evidence (as if any were needed) that I am a logophile. Why is it "pearl" on some bags and "pearled" on others?

I always thought that pearl barley was so-called because, when the hull (spikelet and bran) of the barley is removed (thus depriving the grain of much of its nutritional value -- iron, manganese, phosphorus, and thiamin) by milling, what is left is like a pearl (the oyster kind). Maybe.

But the process of removing the bran is called "pearling" which may be a back-construction. Maybe not.

Anyway, the soup is wonderfully good.