etymology
-
It is surprising how many phrases that we probably attribute to the Bible or Shakespeare, actually date to the medieval period. While looking for a list of medieval “Italian” phrases, I stumbled upon this link https://www.medievalists.net/2024/12/medieval-phrases-today/. Only ten phrases, but goodness, I’d never have thought of their actual origins. No Man’s Land? Tom, Dick and…
-
There is a new dictionary of the medieval Irish language, contained in 23 volumes, see here. That’s a LOT of words! But one affects me more than all the others. It seems that “leprechaun” is not native Irish. It’s Roman. Oh, no. I wish they hadn’t discovered this, because as far as I’m concerned, leprechauns…
-
The following is from an article by Dave Kiffer in a newspaper from Ketchikan in Alaska. “And wasn’t it Richard III who used the phrase “pell-mell” to describe rapid advancement of troops or some such thing. Of course, Richard III’s too rapid advancement led him to spending a few centuries buried under a parking lot.…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 