Quote:
Originally posted by Moiraine:
Actually, Yorick, I just mad a little etymological research - it seems that 'woman' doesn't come from 'womb' but from an Old English word 'wifmann', mann meaning mankind and wiff meaning female (this word ultimately gave 'wife').
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Wife originated as an alternate meaning for woman yes. I find wiffmann a bit of a stretch though. I've done some language origin reading and found sometimes the opinions vary hugely.
Maybe thats true, in which case what did the wiff mean as opposed to wiffmann being shortened to wiff. Why was it added in the first place?
How many other guys call/called their wives Wiff? I did. Wiffy, Wiff. Seems the language unwittingly did a full circle in my case
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I am the walrus!.... er, no hang on....
A fair dinkum laughing Hyena!
[This message has been edited by Yorick (edited 05-10-2001).]