0x029a

joined 1 year ago
[–] 0x029a@lemmy.today 8 points 9 months ago
[–] 0x029a@lemmy.today 31 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

You might mean "chifforobe," a type of wardrobe, which appears a number of times in "To Kill a Mockingbird" (spelled "chiffarobe.")

[–] 0x029a@lemmy.today 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

https://www.etymonline.com/word/news

late 14c., "new things," plural of new (n.) "new thing" (see new (adj.)); after French nouvelles, which was used in Bible translations to render Medieval Latin nova (neuter plural) "news," literally "new things."

The odd and doubtful construction probably accounts for the absurd folk-etymology (attested by 1640 but originally, and in 18c. usually, in jest-books) that claims it to be an abbreviation of north east south west, as though "information from all quarters of the compass."