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Subject:Re: What the f -at- #$? From:Richard Sobocinski <"Richard_G_Sobocinski%~WHC207"@CCMAIL.PNL.GOV> Date:Wed, 27 Jul 1994 13:33:00 -0700
> >that are _not_ considered dirty ("dirty" itself is, not surprisingly, from
> the French).
> Really???? As you many know, the French word for "dirty" is "sale", accent
> acute on the e, (which I am constantly reminded of by my French husband
> because that's what my first name sounds like!). What is the actual origin
> of "dirty"? "d'something"?
> --Sally
===============================
My Dictionary of Word Origins lists -=dirt=- as originating
from Old Norse "drit" which meant "excrement". It became
dirt by metathesis in the 15th cent. FWIW.