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Thursday 23 February 2017

A bone of contention: a rant.

Last Friday, at the fishmonger section of my Tesco supermarket, I saw a sign:


FILLETS: CONTAINS BONES AND SKIN


File:Pangasius meat.jpg
photo by Brücke-Osteuropa



My head still hurts, a bit.


Word To Use Today: fillet. This word means - well, it means lots of things, but as far as fish is concerned it describes a portion that's been boned.*

Word To Use Today: The word fillet comes from the Old French filet, from fil, thread, from the Latin fīlum.

*I realise to my delight that the word boned is a contranym, that is, a word that means both itself and its own opposite. A boned fish had had the bones taken out, but a boned corset has had bones put in.

Possibly the writer of that notice was wearing a corset... 

...mind you, the nice person behind the fish counter was quite generously built, so I doubt it was him.




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