| "Headstrong" | - denoted a hard-mouthed, difficult horse to control |
| "Curb" | - originally a chain or strap on a bit to restrain a horse from Middle French courbe "curve, curved piece of wood or iron" from Latin curvus "curved". Both the curb on a bit and the edging on a street to form part of a gutter had the same origins; now, as well, means to restrain - as to curb one's temper |
| "Slacker" | evolved from the lazy horse whose traces were slack, the one not pulling its share of the weight, now meaning one who shirks or evades an obligation |
| "Set the pace" | - the horse in a pair that did the bulk of the pulling set the standard has evolved to anyone setting a standard - physical or mental |
| "Cab" | - from cabriolet , a term borrowed into English from French in the 18th century, and designating a "two-wheeled coach drawn by a single horse." Cabriolet is derived from the Italian verb capricolare "to jump in the air, " since that coach was known for its springy suspension - now of course synonymous with taxi, short for taxi-cab, which is itself an abbreviation fror taximeter-cab. |
| "Hackney carriage or cab" |
in Britain, taxis are still so licensed
|
|
"Hack"
"Hacker" |
- term with a long history - a hack, or worn-out horse, is short for hackney
and has been in
use since the 14th century in connection with hired horses. It is thought that
this may be an adaptation of the name Middle English name
Hackenei
, now an inner-London
borough, Hackney, but once a village on the outskirts where horses were raised
before taken into the city for sale or hire.
Most rented horses being past their best from long and ill-use, hackney came to mean not only the broken-down horse but any common drudge, a sense that has been extended, in the abbreviated form, hack, to include fee-for-service writers and low-level political time servers which influenced the development of hackneyed phrase - "trite" - also, of course, still used for taxi or cab-driver - in the modern sense hacker, someone who gains unauthorized access to computer records, comes from a just slightly earlier "one who works like a hack;" ie. - very hard - at writing and experimenting with software. |
|
Did You Know?
Chariots added a new dimension to warfare by enabling operations to be carried over a broader front than would have been possible with soldiers on foot. Chariots made possible invasions of Persia and India by Aryans from Central Asia and invasions of Europe by the Celts. Upper Egypt was invaded and occupied from approx. 2000 BC to 1542 BC by the Hyksos - it was they who introduced the wheel, the chariot, and a whole new tactical concept of warfare into Egypt.
The Hittites from Asia Minor became one of Egypt's most formidable and
aggressive enemies. The conflict between these foes continued on
and off for centuries and finally came to a close in 1286 BC when the
Hittites defeated Ramses I at Kadesh in Syria, with a striking foce of
3500 chariots and 17,000 foot soldiers. This was the greatest chariot
battle of antiquity - the equivalent of the tank battles of the Second
World War - and fought over much the same ground.
|
The 1768 Edition of Enclyclopaedia Britannica
(found under "Mechanics"): To be continued... |
