lucy24 - 3:14 pm on Apr 16, 2012 (gmt 0)

Peasants didn't get much meat either way, so the vast majority of meat consumed, was consumed in French.

... which didn't prevent the word for "food" (as in "meat and drink") changing over to mean "animal flesh".

Europeans in general must have eaten enormous amounts of meat compared to the rest of the planet.* How else could the word "fast" be interpeted-- with a straight face-- as abstaining from eggs and red meat?

only as an adult did i realise it was the same as stew!

I read a children's book where the narrator's mother suddenly started inflicting "O'Groton" on the family. Finally the narrator sees it in print and is very embarrasssed at her mistake. But she doesn't like it any better with French spelling.


* Except, oops, the latitudes where nothing grows.