www.wordorigins.org

femuse · 11-24-2004, 06:32 PM

"Often, popular tales of a word's origin arise. Sometimes these are true; more often they are not. While it often seems disappointing when a neat little tale turns out to be untrue, almost invariably the true origin is just as interesting."

Mots et Expressions: vous pensez souvent en connaitre l'origine. Souvent c'est vrai, plus souvent c'est faux.

Decus ? [desole

: English software & keyboard] L'histoire paraissait bonne, mais elle est fausse. Souvent, la verite est aussi interessante que la fiction.

Certaines expressions ont "voyagees" dans d'autres langues, autres sont restees sur place. Les quelles? Celle d'aujourd'hui date de 1599 en anglais.

[Next time, back to a language where I can express myself better.

]

I am having such a great time with the site Etymologies & Word Origins that I downloaded the 400 or so words & phrases and I will post some of those from time to time.
Let me know when you are tired of it. :D

Which of those phrases made it in other languages and which did not ? The one for today dates to 1599 in English.

Baker's Dozen

The popular tale behind this phrase's origin is that a medieval law specified the weight of loaves of bread and any baker who shorted a customer was in for dire punishment. So, baker's would include a thirteenth loaf with each dozen just to be safe.

The story is partly true. There was such a law, but the practice of adding an extra loaf to the dozen had nothing to do with fear of punishment.

The law in question was the Assize of Bread and Ale, first promulgated in England in 1266.

There are various versions of the law, but they all regulated the weight and price of loaves of bread that were sold on the market. During years of good harvests, bakers could make more bread than they could sell locally, so they would sell the excess loaves to hucksters, or middlemen. But since the weight and price was strictly regulated, the only way for these distributors to make money would be to give them extra loaves. The baker would give the huckster a thirteenth, or vantage, loaf for each dozen. This extra loaf provided the profit for the middleman.

The practice of adding the thirteenth loaf is older than the phrase. The phrase only dates to 1599.

See you tomorrow .... unless you cry uncle :D

11-24-2004, 06:32 PM	#1 (permalink)
femuse Senior International Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 209 femuse is an unknown character at this point	www.wordorigins.org "Often, popular tales of a word's origin arise. Sometimes these are true; more often they are not. While it often seems disappointing when a neat little tale turns out to be untrue, almost invariably the true origin is just as interesting." Mots et Expressions: vous pensez souvent en connaitre l'origine. Souvent c'est vrai, plus souvent c'est faux. Decus ? [desole : English software & keyboard] L'histoire paraissait bonne, mais elle est fausse. Souvent, la verite est aussi interessante que la fiction. Certaines expressions ont "voyagees" dans d'autres langues, autres sont restees sur place. Les quelles? Celle d'aujourd'hui date de 1599 en anglais. [Next time, back to a language where I can express myself better. ] I am having such a great time with the site Etymologies & Word Origins that I downloaded the 400 or so words & phrases and I will post some of those from time to time. Let me know when you are tired of it. :D Which of those phrases made it in other languages and which did not ? The one for today dates to 1599 in English. Baker's Dozen The popular tale behind this phrase's origin is that a medieval law specified the weight of loaves of bread and any baker who shorted a customer was in for dire punishment. So, baker's would include a thirteenth loaf with each dozen just to be safe. The story is partly true. There was such a law, but the practice of adding an extra loaf to the dozen had nothing to do with fear of punishment. The law in question was the Assize of Bread and Ale, first promulgated in England in 1266. There are various versions of the law, but they all regulated the weight and price of loaves of bread that were sold on the market. During years of good harvests, bakers could make more bread than they could sell locally, so they would sell the excess loaves to hucksters, or middlemen. But since the weight and price was strictly regulated, the only way for these distributors to make money would be to give them extra loaves. The baker would give the huckster a thirteenth, or vantage, loaf for each dozen. This extra loaf provided the profit for the middleman. The practice of adding the thirteenth loaf is older than the phrase. The phrase only dates to 1599. See you tomorrow .... unless you cry uncle :D
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