As he worked Horace contemplated the coming telephonic revolution.
Soon gentlefolk not much richer than himself would be able to make up to three telephone calls per week.
Just imagine. From the comfort of their own homes they could order extra coal to be delivered when the weather took a turn.
Rather than trudge through the snow to church the whole family could gather around the phone on a Sunday morning and worship telephonically.
Why, they could even call the local butcher to slaughter and skin a lamb for Sunday dinner.
Could life get any better?
Daze of Our Lives

Word Origins: Blancmange

June 26th, 2008 at 10:12 am (Crumbs)

The word blancmange derives from Old French blanc mangier. The name “whitedish” is a modern term used by some historians, though the name historically was either a direct translation from or a calque of the Old French term. Many different local or regional terms were used for the dish in the Middle Ages:

    English: blancmanger, blankmanger, blank maunger, blomanger, blamang
    Catalan: manjar blanch (Old Catalan; nowadays it would be menjar blanc)
    Portuguese: manjar branco
    Italian: mangiare bianco, blanmangieri, bramangere
    Spanish: manjar blanco
    Dutch/Flemish: blanc mengier
    German: blamensir
    Latin: albus cibus, esus albus

Though it is fairly certain that the etymology is indeed “white dish”, medieval sources are not always consistent as to the actual color of the dish. Food scholar Terence Scully has proposed the alternative etymology of bland mangier, “bland dish”, reflecting its often mild and “dainty” (in this context meaning refined and aristocratic) taste and popularity as a sick dish.

From Wikipedia.