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Sunday 11 January 2015

Sunday Rest: goblet. Word Not To Use Today.

It wouldn't be so bad if a goblet was a young goblin.

It wouldn't be so bad if a goblet was a little gob. On a mouthy toddler, perhaps.

But a goblet is supposed to be elegant and civilised and sophisticated. It's supposed to be redolent of history and inheritance.

File:WLA brooklynmuseum Wine Goblet mid 19th century Blue glass.jpg
Photo by  Trish Mayo.

And yet it's called a goblet.

Something really did go wrong somewhere, didn't it.

Word Not To Use Today: goblet. This word comes from the Old French gobelet, a little cup, from gobe mouthful or lump. It's probably from a Gaulish word because of its similarity to the Irish gob, mouth, and Gaelic gob, beak. 

2 comments:

  1. Well, you're quite right, of course....goblet is a horrid word. I don't think I've ever used it in writing anything...

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    Replies
    1. I don't know if I ever have, either, Adele. It'd be good for toasts in a goblin hall, though, wouldn't it? And Blackadder would say it beautifully!

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