Fossil words (meaning, quote)

[bjh]

petit four - has nothing to do with the number four

This French phrase absorbed into Engish refers to small cakes that were originally made to take advantage of the last bit of heat in a cooling oven. Bakers made them small so they could cook easily. The four actually means oven. The word is related to furnace. FYI the Roman goddess of ovens was called Fornax. They had a god or goddess for everything, didn't they?

[Fred314X]

How about ague. Does anyone come down with a case of ague anymore?

[bjh]

freelance - then and now we use it to mean an independent worker who goes from job to job

Lance meant a spear. The word used to mean an independent soldier who will carry his spear for whoever hires him.

[Mainer61]

Originally Posted by Fred314X

How about ague. Does anyone come down with a case of ague anymore?

I think I had it last week...

[bjh]

bonfire - the bon in fire comes from the word bone.

Originally wood and bones were burned together as part of an ancient religious ceremony. People would walk and herd their animals between two bonfires. They thought it was cleansing.

[bjh]

boondocks - a misleading word. Not boon as in good, not docks as in boat docks.

A word from the native Filipino language of Tagalog that means mountain. Picked up by troops overseas in the late 1800s.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by bjh

boondocks - a misleading word. Not boon as in good, not docks as in boat docks.

A word from the native Filipino language of Tagalog that means mountain. Picked up by troops overseas in the late 1800s.

Oooo, nice one. Thanks.

[bjh]

magpie - not apple pie, but pie as in pica, the original Latin word for the noisy black bird.

Pica referred to the bird as a type of woodpecker.

Mag came from a nickname for Margaret, because the birds are talkative. And, uh, so are some women. *ducks thrown objects* I don't invent them, just report them.

[bjh]

Correction pica comes from a word meaning indiscriminately eaten objects. These birds are known to eat just about any objects they find, stones, etc. And, the European ones are not just black. They are black and white.

[bjh]

Here's some more pie.

piebald - no pastry baked food, but some hair loss

This word means a mix of black and white. A black and white horse, for instance, can be called a piebald.

The pie also comes from magpie, a black and white bird in Europe. The word bald is a Middle English word meaning white patch . . . right about, here.