[muglo] Re: "kettle of fish" [VERY OFF]
- From: Eurogarth <eurogarth@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Muglo@Freelists. Org" <muglo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2005 17:47:59 -0500
A few weeks back. I happened to be watching the tube at about 3AM and saw a
lecture about English and the OED. I found the show very interesting and
although I was reasonably well informed, I was surprised to hear how words
actually got into the first (and still today) edition: all it takes is for
you to send in an "official" entry which is a 3x5 inch card with the word
printed at the top left corner, the definition as you understand it, and a
citation of where you saw the word.
The next (4th) edition of the OED has been delayed to something like 2012
and will have over 40 volumes and some 700,000 entries. The current edition
has some 32 volumes and 480,000 or so entries) It is available on CD as
well.
I can only afford the 2-volume "shorter" version and it's a definition of:
"Kettle of fish (a) Scot dia = sense 2 above [A picnic or excursion as which
fish is cooked out of doors]
(b) Scot dia:a state of affairs in a pretty, fine, nice, etc., or a mess, an
awkward state of affairs;
a different or another kettle of fish, a different state of affairs or
matter altogether.
Gotta love it!
>
> On 9-Feb-05, at 9:58 AM, Larry Kryski wrote:
>
>> Interesting adjunct, Tee. And interesting that it should be used in
>> this
>> fashion. I wonder if this was a totally independent term at this time,
>> or
>> whether it had perhaps already crossed over from the term kentle? I
>> know
>> there are areas of Britain where there is a lot of "liberty" taken with
>> language.=20
>>
>> Your uncle must have had a booming business selling fish, to buy 10
>> tons a
>> week!
>>
>
> A typo as it should read 2 to 3 kettles a week. As Kentle sounds a bit
> Cornish a change to kettle sounds logical. Cornish English sounds very
> similar to Newfie BTW.
> I believe the "liberty taken with language" is a feature/result of
> dialect, which changes from County to County & sometimes from Town to
> Town, even from district to district.
> As to the first English dictionary I only know it was born in Lichfield
> & the house where the inventor? lived is a local landmark.
>
> TTFN,
> TeeC
>
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