strathspey@strathspey.org:45449

L. Friedman-Shedlov

Re: Divided by a common language (was Reels and Hornpipes)

June 1, 2006, 8:26 p.m. (Message 45449, in reply to message 45448)

> While I agree with your "point taken" because the usage is not common,
> I fail to understand why this should have been a problem. While the
> expression is so common in Scotland today as not to be considered
> "twee", it is from middle English, not Scots, and appears in American
> dictionaries.

Well, whether it makes sense to you or not, all I can tell you is that 
people on our board (all of whom are reasonably well-educated) did not 
understand it.  Perhaps they should have availed themselves of a 
dictionary, but I guess it's one of those words that doesn't look quite
strange enough to send you to a dictionary.  They assumed it was a 
Scottish usage.

/ Lara


********************************
Lara Friedman~Shedlov               "Librarians -- Like Google, but
xxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx                       warm-blooded"
********************************