Re: phonology of borrowed words

On Thursday 21 November 2002 04:30 am, you wrote:
> Eamon Graham scripsit:
> > "French postcard" - that's one I had to get explained to me. ;)
>
> Yeah, but the use of "French" in that one is configurational: the
> postcards in question actually were produced and sold in France to
> English tourists (male).
>
> "French toast" is another example, but apparently the term is unknown
> in Greater Leftpondia: it's day-old bread soaked in scrambled egg and
> sauteed, usually with cinnamon and sometimes sugar, and eaten for
> breakfast. Evidently this is a variant of pain perdu, which is probably why
> it's called "French" in English.
Following the Rainbow Warrior bombing in 1985, I tried to get the usage
"French Tourist" adopted as a replacement for "Terrorist" but it never caught
on ...  <sigh><moo><baah!>

Wesley Parish

--
Mau e ki, "He aha te mea nui?"
You ask, "What is the most important thing?"
Maku e ki, "He tangata, he tangata, he tangata."
I reply, "It is people, it is people, it is people."