digitS'
Garden Master
Cantankerous
"That’s because you don’t know her as well as I. Ecod! I know every inch about her; and there’s not a more bitter cantanckerous toad in all Christendom." ~ Oliver Goldsmith, 1773.
Apparently, the word does not appear earlier in English literature and dictionaries and was still considered "colloquial" by lexicographers well into the 20th century. Wow! So, maybe it really was Dennis' neighbor Mr. Wilson who first moved the word into the mainstream - as a balance against real or imagined menace.
The researchers think that its origin may be in one of two directions, of course. ... Middle English, conteckour, a person who causes strife.
Well, Middle English is going a little too far back for me, seeing as how it apparently didn't appear in print until 1773.
A combination of two words, each suggesting its current meaning - contentious and rancorous. Yeah, if I was to put odds on it ...
Still, conteckour, has that grating quality which likely causes folks to go home from community meetings early. Yeah, a person who causes strife, often you know, just by pulling words out of thin air.
Steve
"That’s because you don’t know her as well as I. Ecod! I know every inch about her; and there’s not a more bitter cantanckerous toad in all Christendom." ~ Oliver Goldsmith, 1773.
Apparently, the word does not appear earlier in English literature and dictionaries and was still considered "colloquial" by lexicographers well into the 20th century. Wow! So, maybe it really was Dennis' neighbor Mr. Wilson who first moved the word into the mainstream - as a balance against real or imagined menace.
The researchers think that its origin may be in one of two directions, of course. ... Middle English, conteckour, a person who causes strife.
Well, Middle English is going a little too far back for me, seeing as how it apparently didn't appear in print until 1773.
A combination of two words, each suggesting its current meaning - contentious and rancorous. Yeah, if I was to put odds on it ...
Still, conteckour, has that grating quality which likely causes folks to go home from community meetings early. Yeah, a person who causes strife, often you know, just by pulling words out of thin air.
Steve
We are playing thread tag 
