This morning, as I incinerated my breakfast, I was reminded of the etymology of the word rasher, as in a rasher of bacon. There are two theories on the subject. The first rather tedious one is that it's cognate with razor and therefore means a thin strip that has been cut off. However, the first etymologist to tackle the rasher was John Minsheu (1560-1627). He, in his Ductor in Linguas, gives an explanation that is much more fun, though not necessarily much more true.
A Rasher on the coales, q. rashly or hastily roasted.
This does, at least, tally with my experience.
Every damn morning.
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This calls to mind a lovely quatrain from Thomas Hood's "Lament of Toby, the Learned Pig" from 1830, in which the Pig, lamenting his downcast state as a freak of nature, briefly indulges in self-destructive thoughts:
ReplyDeleteFor sorrow i could stick myself—
But conscience is a dasher;
A thing that would be rash in man
in me would be a rasher!
That's rather beautiful.
ReplyDelete