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Do be careful, Bunnitt; Jimmy Carter may be monitoring the list. canoe-dling joodles ---- Joanna Boulter <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Er .... ahem .... don't go blaming Mark, Candice, the poor man knows nothing > about it. This is down to a long-running bc silly between me, Roger C, the > Rodent, and Judy, plus one or two others who occasionally feel like joining > in. > > I've been known as Rabbit on and off for many years, and it's now developed > to Bunnitt, usually with a double tt on the grounds that rabbitts can't > spell. (I did tell you it was silly!) I suspect that it got into the header > of this thread accidentally, when the Rodent responded to a post of mine. > The interesting thing is, the conversation's been running under that head > for a while now, and Candice seems to be the first person to have noticed -- > I didn't myself, to start with, and then it seemed wiser to let it die the > death, rather then start (oh dear!) any more hares. > > Oh my ears and whiskers, don't tell Vile Boris! > > joanna > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "MC Ward" <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2007 4:34 PM > Subject: Re: Dust Bunnits > > > Hi Mark, what's with "Bunnits," as opposed to > "Bunnies, " the form I grew up with? > > Thanks--Candice > > > > --- Mark Weiss <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > Neither contact nor cognate forms, but a common > > ancestry. > > > > > > At 01:00 AM 9/1/2007, you wrote: > > >>Yup, the pejorative came first, before even the > > >>gender applied to, but when I look at the > > >>Germanic cognates > > > >>(http://books.google.com/books?id=Lx8B2tyuy1MC&pg=PA444&lpg=PA444&dq=slut+etymology&source=web&ots=c_Y7kYOIv4&sig=dModOQmfb78SJs4rAOMa9GFMQgw) > > > > >>the sexual imputation appears in some languages > > >>but not in others. Meanings in the various > > >>languages: Icelandic, a heavy, loglike fellow; > > >>Swedish dialect, a slut, an idler; Norwegian, > > >>idler; Danish, slut; verb forms, Icel;andic and > > >>Norwegian to droop, allied to Danish loose, > > >>flabby. From slot-, stem of past participle of > > >>Norwegian sletta, to dangle, drift, idle about. > > >>Further allied to Dutch slodde, a slut, and the > > >>verb to slide.Cf. Irish slaodaire, a lazy person, > > from slaod, to slide. > > > > > >Um. Post-Skeat, we have Onions in the Oxford > > >Dictionary of English Etymology saying "contact > > >with Continental words similarly used and having > > >the same cons[onantal] framework SL..T, cannot > > >be proved" and the OED: " Forms having some > > >resemblance in sound and sense also occur in the > > >Scand. languages, as Da. slatte (? from LG.), > > >Norw. slott, Sw. dial. slåta, but connexion is very > > doubtful.]" > > > > > >-- which would suggest parallel or convergent > > >evolution rather than cognate forms, if that's > > >what you're suggesting above. Assuming the word > > >doesn't come into use much before it's first > > >recorded, the end of the 14thC is a bit late for > > >an unidentified borrowing from another > > >continental language. By then, when words are > > >borrowed [I think], they tend initially to look > > >very much like their form in the language they > > >are borrowed from. (Which contention would be a > > >bit stronger if I could think of an example.) > > > > > >I'm drawn towards the idea that "slut" comes in > > >because there's a strong phonaesthetic framework > > >around the general semantic area of glub and > > >grot, similar words just begging to be added > > >to. I haven't checked the date origins of the > > following, but consider: > > > > > > slut / slattern / sloven > > > > > > slug / (slow) / sloth > > > > > > sot > > > > > > slubber / slobber > > > > > >-- given that weight of phonaesthetic > > >negativity, sluts virtually have to be sluttish, > > nah? > > > > > >>I'm assuming that the various idle, slovenly > > >>meanings are earlier, and that by a process of > > >>convergence the sexual and the social accreted to > > the word. > > > > > >I'm inclined to agree, but the 50 year range in > > >the OED is a narrow one, within the margin of > > >error of when the word appears vs. when it's > > >first recorded in print. Also, I simply picked > > >up the definitions the OED gives without > > >checking them against the citations themselves > > >-- too much trouble at this time of night -- > > >which is sloppy of me, given past > > >experience. But LEME did seem to concur -- > > >Florio is more colourful (as ever) in his range > > >of synonyms for the word, but he's not untypical > > >of all the writers who "define" it between > > 1550-1700. > > > > > >>Seems to me too reasonable to be a > > >>frseh-hatched folk etymology of my own, but I'm > > >>aware that the best available is far short of > > proof. > > > > > >Yup. > > > > > >Back to the Spital House. I'm beginning to get > > >to *like that bloody poem, which is worrying. > > > > > >Ulp ... > > > > > >Robin > > > > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ > Need a vacation? Get great deals > to amazing places on Yahoo! Travel. > http://travel.yahoo.com/