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Author Topic: Your Quirks and Why-Do-I-Do-Thats  (Read 15085 times)

Zingoleb

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Re: Your Quirks and Why-Do-I-Do-Thats
« Reply #100 on: 28 Feb 2012, 09:42 »

The irony of Americanised words taking over the English language amuses me greatly.
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pwhodges

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Re: Your Quirks and Why-Do-I-Do-Thats
« Reply #101 on: 28 Feb 2012, 11:44 »

Of course, some of those "American" words are ones that we English gave away when we no longer wanted them, like "fall" for autumn or "trunk" for (car) boot.
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Carl-E

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Re: Your Quirks and Why-Do-I-Do-Thats
« Reply #102 on: 28 Feb 2012, 12:59 »

Trunk was originally a descriptive term...





How it became a "boot" is beyond me...
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pwhodges

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Re: Your Quirks and Why-Do-I-Do-Thats
« Reply #103 on: 28 Feb 2012, 13:51 »

From the OED (talking about early coaches):  "boot (b). An uncovered space on or by the steps on each side, where attendants sat, facing sideways; later, a low outside compartment before or behind the body of the vehicle."

This goes back at least to the 1600s; there might be a relationship with boot-locker, perhaps where the passengers stored their boots on entering.
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"Being human, having your health; that's what's important."  (from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?"  (from: The Eccentric Family )
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