Hi Judy and all,Thanks for sharing! This is an aspect of proofing I also like. I like historical fiction, and have learned some amazing vocabulary from different regions, times, classes, etc. It gives my imagination more scope, and makes it possible to discuss and use precise terms about so many subjects. I've also learned lots of legal vocabulary that way, and I would never have the patience for that otherwise.
Bookishly yours, Kellie On 9/3/2012 1:41 AM, Judy s. wrote:
I am getting a book about President Calvin Coolidge ready for the collection, and ran across a phrase in it that had me totally stumped. It was "cab shop." When I checked the printed copy of the book, the phrase is correct. It's not a scanno, but I had no idea what it meant in the context in which it was used. The sentences around it didn't help either. The actual words are: the lesser activity of the village was a cab shop. I worked there some on Saturdays, so I came to know how toys and baby wagons were made. " That left me puzzled. What do toys and baby wagons have to do with something called a cab shop? I finally found out it means! It's a little bit of Vermont regional language from President Coolidge's time, from before the 1930s. Toy baby buggies, the little toy strollers a young girl would play with to push her doll around, were called baby cabs. At that time a business that made baby buggies was then called a cab shop. So thanks to volunteering I learned a neat little snippet of Vermont history and regional vocabulary today. smile. Judy s.
To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list of available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.