I know paigle for cowslips and oxslips, but I've not been able to find it's origin - I'm fascinated by etymology - Melvin Bragg's The Adventure of English is one of my mostfavourite books ever.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
To add to what I said before, I have also noticed a road called 'Pingley Lane' up here, as if the word could somehow convert from noun to adjective, and I think sometimes it is used in place of the word 'road' so you get '(Something) Pingle'.
Thanks Busy Bee - it gets more and more interesting. Next time I go to John Clare's cottage http://www.clarecottage.org/ - one of my favourite places - I'll see if anyone there has any info
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Dove, I am also fascinated by the way we use language and the way words develop. I love the fact that such 'English' words as settee and bungalow come from India. And that we say 'faux pas' because we don't have an English version, and the French say 'le weekend'
I think the poggle mentioned above comes from Hertfordshire.
I will try to read the Melvin Barge book, even though I am allergic to him
Artjak, one thing that always interested me (as an English teacher) was the fact that if you go through the dictionary, practically every word beginning with 'k' is an import from another language. Kayak, karaoke, kangaroo, kilt. And the funny thing about dialect words is that you learn them (along with all the others) and aren't aware they are dialect, until you go somewhere else. Like the time I talked about 'little tykes' in Manchester, and nobody had heard of tykes. I had no idea what they meant when they invited me to leave a bike in the 'ginnel' either!
Dove, I am also fascinated by the way we use language and the way words develop. I love the fact that such 'English' words as settee and bungalow come from India. And that we say 'faux pas' because we don't have an English version, and the French say 'le weekend'
I think the poggle mentioned above comes from Hertfordshire.
I will try to read the Melvin Barge book, even though I am allergic to him
I too was deeply allergic to him until I heard some of the radio progs that came from the book - he's now one of my heroes (as long as I don't have to watch him on tv)
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
BB2, what is a ginnel? In Glasgow, they kept talking about the 'area', it was, I think, the steps to a block of flats. And are there really no words beginning with k in Middle English or early English?
The thing that staggers me the most about our language though, is when they asked 4,000 American University students where the English language came from; they didn't know
That says a lot - although at least they don't call it 'American'!! A 'ginnel' is the passageway which runs between the backyards of back-to-back houses - Coronation Street type houses. Often cobbled and where the bin men collect the rubbish bags (or latterly wheelie bins) from. There are viking words or names (such as my old surname 'Knott') which begin with a silent K. And there is a smattering of viking (Old Norse) in Middle English, for obvious reasons. But mostly, the K section of the dictionary speaks for itself - kumquat, kamikaze, kimono, koala, etc.
Posts
I know paigle for cowslips and oxslips, but I've not been able to find it's origin - I'm fascinated by etymology - Melvin Bragg's The Adventure of English is one of my mostfavourite books ever.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
To add to what I said before, I have also noticed a road called 'Pingley Lane' up here, as if the word could somehow convert from noun to adjective, and I think sometimes it is used in place of the word 'road' so you get '(Something) Pingle'.
Thanks Busy Bee - it gets more and more interesting. Next time I go to John Clare's cottage http://www.clarecottage.org/ - one of my favourite places - I'll see if anyone there has any info
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Dove, I am also fascinated by the way we use language and the way words develop. I love the fact that such 'English' words as settee and bungalow come from India. And that we say 'faux pas' because we don't have an English version, and the French say 'le weekend'
I think the poggle mentioned above comes from Hertfordshire.
I will try to read the Melvin Barge book, even though I am allergic to him
Artjak, one thing that always interested me (as an English teacher) was the fact that if you go through the dictionary, practically every word beginning with 'k' is an import from another language. Kayak, karaoke, kangaroo, kilt. And the funny thing about dialect words is that you learn them (along with all the others) and aren't aware they are dialect, until you go somewhere else. Like the time I talked about 'little tykes' in Manchester, and nobody had heard of tykes. I had no idea what they meant when they invited me to leave a bike in the 'ginnel' either!
I too was deeply allergic to him until I heard some of the radio progs that came from the book - he's now one of my heroes (as long as I don't have to watch him on tv)
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
BB2, what is a ginnel? In Glasgow, they kept talking about the 'area', it was, I think, the steps to a block of flats. And are there really no words beginning with k in Middle English or early English?
The thing that staggers me the most about our language though, is when they asked 4,000 American University students where the English language came from; they didn't know
That says a lot - although at least they don't call it 'American'!! A 'ginnel' is the passageway which runs between the backyards of back-to-back houses - Coronation Street type houses. Often cobbled and where the bin men collect the rubbish bags (or latterly wheelie bins) from. There are viking words or names (such as my old surname 'Knott') which begin with a silent K. And there is a smattering of viking (Old Norse) in Middle English, for obvious reasons. But mostly, the K section of the dictionary speaks for itself - kumquat, kamikaze, kimono, koala, etc.
There are some - kiss, kick and kid etc - all sort of Norse/Germanic, but yes, in the main they would seem to come from much further away.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
featherbed lane= muddy lane.