C-H;
English changes too, perhaps not so fast lately. Here's Geoffry Chaucer (1340?-1400), in the 'Prologue to the Canterbury Tales':
A Cook they haddé with hem for the nones*,
To boille the chiknés with the marybones,
And poudré-marchant tart and galyngale.
Wel koud he knowe a draughte of Londoun ale**;
*for the trip- ie he is the Pilgrims' cook, this being about a pilgrimage.
** Really strong beer!
And here's Shakespeare 200 years later in 'The Merchant of Venice', written ?1590:
Beg that thou mayst have leave to hang thyself;
And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state,
Thou hast not left the value of a cord;
Therefore thou must be hang'd at the state's charge.
Everthing changes; take the word 'nice', now the most used adjective in English:
To Chaucer, a 'nyce' man was on idiot, a dolt. [Latin; [i]nescivs[i/]; ignorant.]
To Shakepeare, a 'nice' woman was laviscious, sexy, curvy.
There are currently over 600,000 English words in the Oxford English Dictionary. You are doing well if you know a tenth of them!
Alan
Wroghte, and afterwarde an asteriske deleyte!
[This message has been edited by Alan Belson (edited 01-17-2006).]
[This message has been edited by Alan Belson (edited 01-17-2006).]
