jj (07/08/82)
Well, I must admit that I am beginning to have some serious doubts about my primary and secondary education. Having looked up the definition and entimology of man and chairman in the Oxford English Dictionary, I find exactly NO support for the man<-->manus (l. hand) origin of the word that I was taught throughout my public school years. This apparantly bogus information was repeated more than once during those years, and many derivations suggested from it. Out of curiousity: Does anyone else recall the same information being taught in their early education? If so, do you know the source of the information? P.S. The derivation of chairman came from the same source, and was repeated by more than one person with whom I came in contact during my college education, although I don't recall anyone with English expertise making that assertion. (I don't recall anyone denying it, either.) Needless to say, I find this entire situation a bit troubling. I would be curious to hear from anyone else who is in the same situation. I would like to discover the existance of any geographical or sociological distribution. For the time, at least, I will leave my origin (as far as education) unspecified. rabbit!jj