Incidentally, how reliable is that double-g?
joanna
>> It was, of course, originally "haggus" (from the medieval Latin
>> HAGGUS, -I -- look it up in that nice dictionary your husband bought you,
>> Joanna). As the final vowel was pronounced as a scha, in the course of
>> time, it came to be orthographed (worse things happen -- think "Menzies"
>> pronounced 'mingus') with the "i" token replacing the "u".
>>
>> However, as the last syllable of the plural *isn't* a scha but a full
>> vowel,
>> this escaped whipping.
>>
>> Which is why the legitimate plural of "haggis" is "haggi".
>>
>> A Mad Provoked Thistle.
>>
>> (who's off to check out the DOST.)
>
> It isn't *in that nice Medieval Latin dictionary my husband bought me,
> which is a shame. Nothing remotely comparable, single or double g, any
> reasonable vowel, first letter voiced or unvoiced. I think you're having
> me on. I bet the word never had anything to do with Latin. Unless you're
> prepared to accept a derivation through classical Latin 'agger', a mound
> or heap, or the waste materials forming such a heap?
>
> joanna
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