Re: CHAT: Opperlands
| From: | Lars Henrik Mathiesen <thorinn@...> |
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| Date: | Wednesday, May 12, 1999, 20:02 |
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Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 13:49:49 EDT
From: <Lassailly@...>
Maybe it comes from "ten toon stellen" ;-) = "to put to the
showing" (tonen = to show + stellen = to put + ten = the) ?
Interesting --- that ("tonen") must be the source of the Danish
expression "at tone rent flag" (literally, "to show your true
colours," but now in the sense of saying what you really mean).
Not really surprising, since Danish has borrowed a lot of nautical
terms from Dutch, but I always assumed it was some weird metaphorical
use of the homonym "tone" (meaning "tone" or "sound" in English).
Lars Mathiesen (U of Copenhagen CS Dep) <thorinn@...> (Humour NOT marked)