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Saturday 5 February 2011

The Casual Etymologist: Word of the Week

As a gesture to our Chaucerian heritage, I thought I would open up a Word of the Week column, based on the weird and wonderful etymology of the English language. To kick it off, I found a cracker of a word on the Middle English glossary website www.librarius.com


Prikasour: noun horseman, hunter on horseback


Shown here in full technicolour, a Prikasour is a man of the open road, a hardened man, and retaining little tenderness. Derived from the words 'prick' meaning to prod or poke, and a 'vasour' meaning literally to have something or someone underneath you, the prikasour treats his horses like he treats his women, by poking them in the ribs and and telling them to giddy-the-hell-up girl!

Basically, a bit of a prick. Cool jacket though.

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