On Apr 15, 2005, at 22:55, Peter Cudmore wrote:
> 1. A man whose business is buying and selling; a merchant, trader,
> dealer. Obs. or arch.
>
> Hence Chap-book
>
> [f. chap in CHAPMAN + BOOK.]
>
> A modern name applied by book-collectors and others to specimens
> of the
> popular literature which was formerly circulated by itinerant dealers
> or
> chapmen, consisting chiefly of small pamphlets of popular tales,
> ballads,
> tracts, etc.
>
I didn't know English had used the term chapman, otherwise I would have
made the connection sooner. We still say 'kjøpmann' around here (my
office is in Kjøpmannsgate) and one of the largest Icelandic financial
institutions is called 'Kaupthing'.
--Knut
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