[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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