[Mgs] Common Language

[David Breneman]

--- On Thu, 1/8/09, Bob Howard <mgbob at juno.com> wrote:

> Isn't   yacht   Dutch?

Bad example.  The French word for yacht is also yacht.
That's what you get for pulling examples off the top of
your head in the middle of the night after a long drive
home from work avoiding flooded out roads and drinking
a couple of beers to soothe your nerves before you read
your email.

  :-)

Still, the demarcation between "common" words of germanic
origin and "noble" words of french origin in modern
English is real. The division of Karl der Gro_e's Holy
Roman Empire between his two sons set in motion the split
of modern German and French from their original common root.