Words

I love to learn about the origins of words, and we learned a couple of new ones on our visit to Tours, France.

In the age when most of the castles we visited were built, the people generally avoided water whenever they could. They believed that washing opened the pores and allowed "evil humors" to enter the body, so they didn't bathe or wash hands much. Dinner was generally served on a loaf of bread, not a plate as we do today. These round loaves would get soaked in the juices of the meat that was served on them. After the meat, the bread would be broken and eaten and often shared with the person sitting next to you or the dogs that were inevitably around the table. The person with whom you shared your bread was, in French, your com pain..the one you shared your bread with. From this we get the modern words companion and company...those you share your bread with.

The tables in those days were covered in a fairly rough fabric which was called tulle (evolved into the fine net fabric of today). Since the Lords and Ladies avoided washing with water, and the paper or cloth napkin had yet to be invented, the table cloth had a smaller length of tulle cut and sewn on the side of the table (they only sat on one side to allow for servants to serve food from the other side) they sat on. This smaller length of tulle was called the tullette in French, and this is the origin of the word toilet, as it was the beginning of the practice of cleaning oneself.

As we toured the castle, we found a bell mounted in the defensive tower. When this bell was rung, it was a call to arms for the soldiers in the castle due to a perceived threat. In French, it is "a l'arm", and this is the origin of the word alarm.

Words in England are used a bit differently than we use them in the US, too. For instance, when I think of pudding, I think of a semi-liquid dessert like tapioca pudding. In the UK, "pudding" is used to mean dessert in general. At a restaurant you will see the "pudding" menu, which will include cakes and ice creams. It is a little confusing, because they use the word with savory dishes as well. Yorkshire Pudding is a kind of bread. Blood Pudding is a dish made with sheep's blood. And they use the word with things like tapioca just as we do. Context is everything.

In the UK, a grocery cart is a "trolley," and a golf cart is a "buggy." A "midge" is an evil creature that should not have been allowed on the Ark. Fortunately, I believe the evil midge is confined to the British Isles.

Tea is not a drink, necessarily, either. High tea is a meal that may or may not include brewed tea on the menu. It is a meal served between lunch and dinner. Supper is the meal you take after the children are in bed after 8:00 pm. Eating breakfast, elevensies, lunch, tea, dinner, and supper may seem like a huge amount of food, but this way of eating is actually healthier provided you watch what you eat, and you don't eat more than 300-350 calories at any meal. If you're the cook in England, you may be in the kitchen all day.