Re: OT: the euro & 01.01.02 (was NATLANG/FONT:)
| From: | Michael Poxon <m.poxon@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, December 18, 2001, 14:56 |
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Ah, what a pity - I like the idea of a coin called the scum! :-)
- guess it's because coins are shield-shaped, thin and metallic. In English,
there is "Escutcheon" which (presumably) came through Norman French, since
it has something to do with heraldry, I believe.
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: "Christophe Grandsire" <christophe.grandsire@...>
To: <CONLANG@...>
Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2001 1:46 PM
Subject: Re: OT: the euro & 01.01.02 (was NATLANG/FONT:)
> En réponse à Michael Poxon <m.poxon@...>:
>
> > But isn't "ecu" French for "scum"? :-))
>
> No, it's "écume", unrelated word. French "écu" comes from the Old French
word
> for "shield": "escu". Why it became used for coins I don't know, but I'm
sure
> many coutries in Europe had "ecus" (until modern times, since until
December
> the 31st, Portugal will have the "escudo", which is no more no less "écu"
in