Billingsgate...
"Coarsely abusive language."
Etymology is fascinating, I think. Not in all cases-- a couple of college courses were PAINFUL--but for the most part, it is.
Case in point: From the time of the Roman occupation until the early 1980s, Billingsgate was a fish market in London notorious for its crude language. In fact, the fish merchants of Billingsgate were so famous for their swearing that their feats of vulgar language were recorded in British chronicler Raphael Holinshed's 1577 account of King Leir (which was probably Shakespeare's source for King Lear). In Holinshed's volume, a messenger's language is said to be "as bad a tongue ... as any oyster-wife at Billingsgate hath." By the middle of the 17th century, "billingsgate" had become a byword for foul language.
This comes to you courtesy of Merriam Webster's Word of the Day. What a beautiful thing. I hope your lives all feel a little more enriched.
Etymology is fascinating, I think. Not in all cases-- a couple of college courses were PAINFUL--but for the most part, it is.
Case in point: From the time of the Roman occupation until the early 1980s, Billingsgate was a fish market in London notorious for its crude language. In fact, the fish merchants of Billingsgate were so famous for their swearing that their feats of vulgar language were recorded in British chronicler Raphael Holinshed's 1577 account of King Leir (which was probably Shakespeare's source for King Lear). In Holinshed's volume, a messenger's language is said to be "as bad a tongue ... as any oyster-wife at Billingsgate hath." By the middle of the 17th century, "billingsgate" had become a byword for foul language.
This comes to you courtesy of Merriam Webster's Word of the Day. What a beautiful thing. I hope your lives all feel a little more enriched.
posted by caroline @ 6:50 AM
3 Comments:
At 11:48 AM,
Jordan said…
Okay, so the rest of us who aren't erudite enough to receive Merriam Webster's word of the day get the lowly Dictionary.com's word of the day. Less artful than MW's, but perhaps a little more practical.
Anyway, today's word was perspicacity and I LOVE THAT WORD! It's so much better than "discernment." We should all use it so that we can bring it back into vogue.
Thanks for the great post!
At 1:47 PM,
caroline said…
Jordan-- you're my soulmate.
At 6:22 PM,
Mere said…
Who is Jordan? I like her. She sounds smart.
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