Post #1394713
2026-04-05 17:20 UTC
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In 1490, William Caxton wrote an anecdote on ‘eggs’ and ‘eyren’. Commenting on the linguistic diversity of English, which made creating a standardised English hard, he told the story of a group of northern merchants asking a southern lady for eggs:
“And one of them, named Sheffelde, a mercer, cam in to an hows and axed for mete, and specyally he axyd after eggys. And the goode wyf answerde that she coude speke no frenshe. And the marchaunt ... 2/
Replies (1)
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@yvanspijk@toot.community 2026-04-05 17:21
3/ ... was angry for he also coude speak no frenshe, but wolde have hadde egges and she understode hym not. And thenne at laste a nother sayd that he wolde have eyren; then the good wyf sayd that she understood hym wel. Loo, what sholde a man in thyse dayes now wryte: egges or eyren? Certaynly it is harde to playse every man bycause of dyversite & chaunge of langage.” (And one of them, named Sheffeld, a mercer, entered a house and asked for food, and specifically he asked for eggs. ... 3/