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From Sheila Doles:
We would have hoped we were already a valuable resource and not merely one for the future! <wink wink> |
From Dick Timberlake:
Thanks, Dick! From David Greenstein:
Nimble is indeed a verb (to move nimbly), but it is now considered rare. Bravo to your student, however! Was it a logical formation in his mind or was he familiar with the "rare" word, we wonder. From Erica Beth Hruby:
Excellent point, but we do try to stick with errors in print/writing in Curmudgeons' Corner (a few pronunciation complaints do get through, however). |
From Gordon Barlow:
The problem with this derivation is that the name Britain supposedly derives from a word that the Britons used to refer to themselves. It isn't likely that they would call themselves "people of the north" -- that's what people to their south would call them. Most peoples' names for themselves as a group are something akin to "the people". From Nastia Senenko:
We think the book you have in mind is The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth. This medieval work is a wonderful source of old legends, but 11th century etymologies are rarely to be trusted. Legend has it that Rome was founded by Aeneas, a fugitive from Troy. Geoffrey's claim that the British kings descended from Trojan royalty was simply an attempt to place Britain on a par with Rome. |
From Erica Beth Hruby:
That is certainly a valid question, but pizza and piazza do not appear to be related. One delightful word that we forgot to mention as deriving from platus is, of course, platypus "flat foot". |
From Georg Trimborn:
More nyuk nyuk (but doesn't that joke only work in Texas? ha!). |
From John Hindsill:
Very interesting! |
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Last Updated 09/29/02 10:05 PM