Thanks Chip. I really like this kind of thing. Having learned French as an adult, I know that the English words that began with a consonant blend starting with "S" were reversed in French and the S dropped, so the word Step becomes etape, student etudiant and Stephen becomes etienne. Anyway, fascinating stuff. PS: I have a personal theory that homeboy and homie might come from the French homme or l''homme" which is man in English. My thought is that African American Jazz musicians might have brought it back from France in the twentieth century, incorporated it into hip slang and substituted "homme" for "man". Homme then becomes Home, then Homie, then homeboy. It's a possibility.
Joe C. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles H. Buchholtz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "L a s e r B e a m �" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2004 10:11 PM Subject: Re: [UC] cakes, loaves, dozens, inches, ounces, cattle, Norsemen > 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>. ---- 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>.
