vikinginireland: a lucet and yellow cord I'm making with it (Default)
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From Archaeology of Food: An Encyclopedia
Edited by Karen Bescherer Metheny, Mary C. Beaudry

“In the Roman world, vegetables were part of the everyday meal, served as side dishes with meat and cheese, or included in single-course dishes, but also as appetizers in banquets. In contrast, medieval Islamic recipes rarely employ vegetables on their own. Here a great variety of vegetables were used, but these were usually incorporated in stews.”

***

“Vegetables tend not to preserve well in the archaeological record. Most plants found on excavations are preserved through charring (carbonization), but vegetables have a lower chance of contact with fire than, for example, grain crops. Moreover, their leafy plant parts rarely survive such contact, in contrast to grains, seeds, and nutshells.” (Ibid)

***

Merino sheep are a breed from the middle ages, developed in Spain or Portugal, possibly from sheep introduced by Berbers. I’m delighted to learn that, as it’s my favourite wool. For a start, I’m not allergic to it, and can even felt it without getting itchy eyes.

***

In general, masculine nouns in Latin became masculine nouns in Spanish, and likewise for feminine. Neuter nouns mostly became masculine, unless they looked feminine, eg ending in the letter a.

But some, like mar (sea), never completely settled on one. Today, it is generally masculine, but feminine in certain situations, and according to A Brief History of the Spanish Language by David A. Pharies, has always vacillated between genders.

***

“To kill two birds with one stone” has a predecessor: “to stop two gaps with one bushe” is a proverb from the 16th century, with the first known mention in a collection of proverbs by John Heywood.

“To stop a gap” was itself used figuratively before 1600, eg Shakespeare used it in King John (1597)
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vikinginireland: a lucet and yellow cord I'm making with it (Default)
Þóra Greylock

July 2020

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