FUN FACT ABOUT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 148: 'Tadpole' literally means 'toadpoll' or 'toadhead', because people used to think frogs and toads were born as a disembodied little head which only later grew a body on the end.

I think we all know that feeling....

FUN FACT ABOUT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 147:
'Scone' is probably from Dutch 'schoonbroot' (literally 'clean bread', the 'schoon' bit is cognate with 'sheen'). 'Waffle' and 'cookie' are also from Dutch.

'Biscuit' is from the French for 'twice-cooked'.

FUN FACT ABOUT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 145: Two naughty bread names today: a 'bâtard' (French for 'bastard') is so-called because it's the BASTARD child of a baguette and a boule, and 'pumpernickel' is dialectal German for 'farting goblin' (because of its effect on the bowels).

FUN FACT ABOUT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 144: The etymological origins of the 'cob' loaf are unclear, but it may derive from the Germanic 'kuppaz', meaning a head or something that is round like a head. 'Cob nuts' and spiders ('COBwebs') are round, and a 'corncob' is a head of corn.

TONIGHT! This is going to be unmissable!

FUN FACT ABOUT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 143: 'Baguette' is from Italian 'bacchetta' (small rod or small stick), from Latin 'baculum', and is thus cognate with 'bacillus' and 'bacteria'!

FUN FACT ABOUT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 142: 'Focaccia' is from 'focus' (the Latin word for 'hearth' or 'fireplace'), because from Roman times onwards, people (but especially poor people) made bread at home by putting the dough under a pile of hot ashes in their fireplace.

A 1940 Evangelical pamphlet for children.

Evangelical pamphlet writers used to drop a lot of acid in the old days.

FUN FACT ABOUT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 141: 'Ciabatta' literally means 'carpet slipper' in Italian and is cognate with French 'sabot' (as in 'clog'). No, it's not cooked in a slipper - it just looks a bit like one!

I was shocked to learn that it was only invented in the 1980s.

Helen Sheppard Hannah M. Teasdale John Sebastian LV55 Melanie Branton This will be an night to remember
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