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This was why I was nervously glancing over my shoulder (grin) 2009/9/20 GILES GOODLAND <[log in to unmask]> > Actually, it is by no means certain that this word is Arabic in origin, > coffee and cafe etymologically speaking passed through Arabic but it may > from the name of a region in Ethiopia: to quote the old unrevised OED 'Some > have conjectured that it is a foreign, perhaps African, word disguised, and > have thought it connected with the name of *Kaffa* in the south Abyssinian > highlands, where the plant appears to be native.' although the standard > etymology links it to an Arabic vb.-root qahiya ‘to have no appetite.’ > > ------------------------------ > *From:* David Bircumshaw <[log in to unmask]> > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Sent:* Sunday, 20 September, 2009 7:36:08 AM > *Subject:* Re: old yerp > > (minor correction) > Pam > there's nothing I can see in the poem that indicates GWBush is specifically > intended (Old Europe is a hackneyed usage of hoary provenance) and certainly > not 'old yerp'. > > Formulations like 'coffee shop' are normal in English. In the sense that > it's used as a demotic alternative to the frenchified 'cafe' it's probably > yet another echo of the dual parentage of the language (I know the etymology > of 'coffee' is Turkish-Arabic, that's another matter, he said, warily, > glancing over his shoulder). > > Concise Oxford definition of 'cafe' = 'coffee shop'. > > As for colonies, I've never owned one. > > 2009/9/20 David Bircumshaw <[log in to unmask]> > >> Pam >> there's nothing I can see in the poem that indicates GWBush is >> specifically intended (Old Europe is a hackneyed usage of hoary provenance) >> and certainly not 'old yerp'. >> >> Formulations like 'coffee shop' are normal in English. In the sense that >> it's used as a demotic alternative to the frenchified 'cafe' it's probably >> yet another echo of the dual parentage of the language (I know the etymology >> of is Turkish_Arabic). >> >> Concise Oxford definition of 'cafe' = 'coffee shop'. >> >> As for colonies, I've never owned one. >> >> 2009/9/19 Pam Brown <[log in to unmask]> >> >> Dear David, >>> >>> In one of my poems on The Argotist Online the reference to 'old europe' >>> is an ironic reference to George W Bush's use of the term pronounced, by >>> him, 'old yerp'. >>> >>> Happy to hear you say 'coffee shop' in Britain, perhaps that's its origin >>> in the colony (that's ironic too). >>> >>> Regards, >>> Pam Brown >>> >>> >>> ___________________________________________________________ >>> >>> Blog : http://thedeletions.blogspot.com/ >>> Web site : http://pambrownbooks.blogspot.com/ >>> Associate editor : Jacket - http://jacketmagazine.com/ >>> ___________________________________________________________ >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> __________________________________________________________________________________ >>> Get more done like never before with Yahoo!7 Mail. >>> Learn more: http://au.overview.mail.yahoo.com/ >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> David Bircumshaw >> "A window./Big enough to hold screams/ >> You say are poems" - DMeltzer >> Website and A Chide's Alphabet >> http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk >> The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html >> Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk >> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/david.bircumshaw >> > > > > -- > David Bircumshaw > "A window./Big enough to hold screams/ > You say are poems" - DMeltzer > Website and A Chide's Alphabet > http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk > The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html > Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk > Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/david.bircumshaw > -- David Bircumshaw "A window./Big enough to hold screams/ You say are poems" - DMeltzer Website and A Chide's Alphabet http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/david.bircumshaw