[ANSTHRLD] That question about profession-surnames a while back
Jay Rudin
rudin at ev1.net
Thu Oct 18 08:10:40 PDT 2007
Brian wrote:
> Add it to another thing in "Lies My Teacher Told Me."
I think it would be more accurate to file it under "Mistakes My Teacher
Made" or "More Proof My Teacher Was Human". It's a mistake, not a lie,
unless she knew it was false when she said it..
> Thanks for debunking that myth Daniel. So it would still mean that the
> way we use hooker has no basis in period.
Yup. In the sixteenth century it meant a kind of thief. According to
Robert Green (1592), a hooker would use a hook to pull linen or other
household goods out through a window -- which still makes it a profession
and a surname, which came to mean something else later, although I assume
that there's no connection between the profession and the name.
Robin of Gilwell / Jay Rudin
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