On Sep 12, 2006, at 21:41, Louise Hume wrote:
My Websters defines COPE as CAPE.
Other dictionaries do to. And I'm sure the origin of both *words* is the same or at least similiar. In English, at any rate, if not in Polish. But, while everyone else might have worn a "cape", a bishop wore a "cope" and the two were different in shape and texture.
A "cope" is almost like an insect "shield" -- it's stiff, it reaches the knees *at the very least* (capes are anywhere from shoulder length to floor length), and it's a far narrower slice of the pie than a "cape" is. It covers the back and a *tiny* bit of the front; a half-circle at the most, and that only in the back -- the front bits are trimmed off.
A "cape", OTOH, is, usually, a full circle (or just a little less), with a slit at the front. The edges of the cape meet at the front and the drape of the garment is entirely different.
I have no doubt that, at some point , both "cope" and "cape" shared not just the word origin but the construction as well. Possibly, even as late as the 20ties (wasn't that when the pattern was published?). But the piece of lace we'd seen had not been a "cope", *ever*, in the religious sense (part of a bishop's official high-holidays gear). That piece is a "cape"...
Sorry to carp. But I've been reading a lot of bad English recently and my blood is up :)
-- Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/ Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
