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TIL that "curry favour" is a folk etymology. The phrase referred originally, gloriously, to a corrupt horse named Fauvel.
https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-cur3.htm #etymology #phrases #language #linguistics #horses
Two related posts of mine: on folk etymology as a linguistic phenomenon: https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/folk-etymology-from-hiccup-to-hiccough/
and on the Irish word "plámás", roughly equivalent to "curry favour": https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/plamas/
#language #etymology #IrishEnglish #words
@stancarey thanks. I felt my brain do a little jig of happiness at learning that.
@stancarey as a Spanish speaker the phrase was unknown for me. But its history is fascinating. Thanks for sharing
@elpalabrista You're welcome. I like it also because I like curry, though the senses of that word are completely different too =)
@stancarey I like curry too!