Quote:
Originally posted by Moiraine:
As for "to oblige" - the word seems closer to the 'old French' verb "obliger" - for example, the polite formula to say "I am in your debt" was "Je suis votre obligé", but it is not in use anymore. Though in the book I read, "to oblige" was closer to "to compel" - it was about a team saying they were obliged to send their report to their boss.
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"Much obliged" is still used as a way of saying "Thank you" ("Merci"). It is more common in southern US, than anywhere else.
The usage in your book might be more closely "they were obligated to send" meaning they were required to send.
wellard, both Brittany and Normandy were more Celtic refugee colonies from the Angol and Saxon invasions. I may be wrong, but I think Charlemane was the uniting force.
As for language roots, I'm not a linguist but, there is a whole orgy of influance between Celtic and Germanic with noted Latin and Scandanavian injections .... and all folded back on itself numerous times!
Mel ..... bwthththtbt [img]tongue.gif[/img] for the German self reverse jibe. Guttenberg though!
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