Monday, 23 April 2018

Spot the Frippet: mouse.

Everyone knows that a mouse is both a small rodent:

File:Fancy mice.jpg
photo by Polarqueen at English Language Wikipedia

 and a pointer device for a computer screen:

File:Parts of a computer mouse.jpg
photo by Adarshjchandran

 but did you know it also a (rare) slang term for a black eye, as well as being way of securing a shackle to prevent a load from slipping off it (it's a term used on a ship)?

Use the more permanent technique of
I found this illustration HERE.

If you have none of these sorts of mice in view, then a human mouse will be a quiet, timid or perhaps cowardly person, a term usually applied to a woman.

Actually, now I come to think about it, to old women...

...well, that means the women of the world must be making some progress, then.

Spot the Frippet: mouse. This word comes from the Old English mūs. The Greek word was exactly the same - but then mice have long been great travellers. 






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