[Loch-Ruadh] Word of the Day, April 1

[Cait O'Hara]

sleeveless

In general use, paltry, petty, frivolous, vain or unprofitable.  Of errands, ending in, or leading to, nothing; having no adequate result or cause.  Very common circa 1580-1700; sometimes used of pretended errands [“sleeveless errands”] on which a person is sent merely to be out of the way for a time.
-- Sir James Murray’s New English Dictionary, 1919

[As] the meaning of the expression, “to sleeve a two,” appears plainly to be to twist or unfold [silk thread] so subtle that it is difficult to untwist it, sleeveless then should seem to mean “that which cannot be unfolded or explained.”
-- John Brand’s Observations on Popular Antiquites, 1813

April Day
In Scotland, upon April Day, they have a custom of hunting the gowk … properly a cuckoo, and is used here, metaphorically in vulgar language, for a fool.  This is done by sending silly people upon fools’ errands from place to place, by means of a letter in which it is written: “On the first day of April, Hunt the gowk another mile.”
-- John Brand’s Observations on Popular Antiquities, 1813

Easter Monday (Canada, U.K.)





---
Never meddle in the affairs of dragons;
For you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
-- Acacia



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