(n.) a disease of the left shin often accompanied by the marthambles. Both were thought to be passed to humans from mean-spirited cows.
(origin) O.E. mool, (pl.) -es, after the vocalization of cows. (In the early Medieval period, English cows dropped the final -l.)
Hah, I always thought in linguistic class that there should be a Great Consonant Shift to go with the Great Vowel Shift. Now I know why it never got mentioned.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Thanks for the introduction to "marthambles". I'd never heard it before (but then I've never read O'Brian's books).