From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?L_a_s_e_r_B_e_a_m_=AE?= <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thu, 09 Dec 2004 16:37:19 -0500 The Norsemen contributed their word for cattle, "fe," from which "fee" is an easy step. Did you know that "skipper" and "equipment" come from the same Norse root? The "skipper" of a Norse ship was in charge of the supplies, cargo, etc. "How much for that silk you brought in?" "Go see the skipper." "I've got 20 kegs of salt beef you can have cheap!" "Go see the skipper." "When can you load my cargo?" "Go see the skipper." So, "skipper" came to mean "the guy in charge of the ship" in English.
The French turn the "sk" sound into "ek" (so "school" becomes "ecole", etc.) And French verbs often end in "er". So, the Norse come to France, and "skipper" becomes "equiper" (pronounced "eh-kee-pay"). The English take that and get "equip", "equipment", etc. --- Chip ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
