Mundane Observations Thread

Ben6899

The name comes into the English language via Mary Queen of Scots, who was visiting a French speaking country and fell ill. Marmalade was one of the dishes they brought to tempt her palate – and the phrase she overheard constantly was ‘Ma’am est malade’ (Madam is ill) which gave the name marmalade.

Porgy

Wikipedia wrote:

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "marmalade" appeared in English language in 1480, borrowed from French marmelade which, in turn, came from the Portuguese marmelada. According to José Pedro Machado’s Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa[4], the oldest known document where this Portuguese word is to be found is Gil Vicente’s play Comédia de Rubena, written in 1521:

Temos tanta marmelada
Que minha mãe vai me dar um pouco[5]
In Portuguese, according to the root of the word, which is marmelo, "quince", marmelada is a preserve made from quinces, quince cheese. Marmelo in turn derives from Latin melimelum, “honey apple”[6] Marie turn derives from Greek μελίμηλον (melímēlon)[7].

In 1524, Henry VIII received a "box of marmalade" from Mr. Hull of Exeter[8]. As it was in a box, this was likely to have been marmelada, a quince paste from Portugal , still made and sold in southern Europe. Its Portuguese origins from marmalado can be detected in the remarks in letters to Lord Lisle, from William Grett, 12 May 1534, "I have sent to your lordship a box of marmaladoo, and another unto my good lady your wife" and from Richard Lee, 14 December 1536, "He most heartily thanketh her Ladyship for her marmalado".[9]

And every Spanish person I've talked to about marmalade thinks it's a hideous waste of good Spanish oranges

Anonymous

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I do like a nice spot of Marmalade. No waste of oranges in my humble opinion.

I've been told that the Marmelo root for the word is the correct origin, too. The other explanation is more amusing, however.

I can recommend a buttercream and marmalade filling for an orange flavoured 'madeira' sponge cake. A bittersweet twist on Victoria Sponge, certainly!

Porgy

I have a love-hate relationship with marmalade.









But then I am part Scottish and part Spanish

Anonymous

Thick cut shred.

deptfordmarmoset

Porgy wrote:

I have a love-hate relationship with marmalade.









But then I am part Scottish and part Spanish

Does that make you Sconish or Spattish?

(I'm Britwiss, but not Swinglish)

Porgy

If you include the part of me that's French and the part that's English as well I must be Franglosponnish

Anonymous

Hmmmm.. I'm now wondering how I'd phrase my nationality:

Brit, but descended from French and Swedish grandparents/great grandparents...

I think this calls for beer and a think about it.

deptfordmarmoset

Cirrus wrote:

Hmmmm.. I'm now wondering how I'd phrase my nationality:

Brit, but descended from French and Swedish grandparents/great grandparents...

I think this calls for beer and a think about it.

Briançeska? No, beer's a much better idea.

skyd0g

Marmite can split people into seperate 'lovers' and 'haters'
...more than is possible by a Doner Kebab at 3am.

Anonymous

No kidding re the Marmite:

My other half descends into the use of profanity at the sight of Marmite faster than he does for any other reason, AFAIK. ;-)

Anonymous

Only people who like marmite will probably eat it....

Porgy

I've eaten marmite in the past, but to be honest, I don't feel particularly strongly either way, except for the fact that it has extremely high salt content.

Aggieboy

Ginger marmalade for me.

Nomnomnomnomnom.

Aggieboy

I've just opened up a new file to put some documents into. The documents relate to beaver activity in the vicinity of one of our railway lines.

I have written in thick black ink on the front of the file "beaver file".

It pleased me far more than it should have.

Anonymous

Aggieboy wrote:

I've just opened up a new file to put some documents into. The documents relate to beaver activity in the vicinity of one of our railway lines.

I have written in thick black ink on the front of the file "beaver file".

It pleased me far more than it should have.

I'd be pleased as well.

passout

Why does vegemite instill such feelings of national pride / patriotism amongst Australians? They find it impossible to talk about this savory spread (which they always bring up ) without slagging off marmite. Is it there only source of food related pride or something or are they like that about everything (especially sport)?

Anonymous

passout wrote:

Why does vegemite instill such feelings of national pride / patriotism amongst Australians? They find it impossible to talk about this savory spread (which they always bring up ) without slagging off marmite. Is it there only source of food related pride or something or are they like that about everything (especially sport)?

Nah, they just get bitter and twisted that they are only capable of doing bar work once they leave Australian air-space. It confuses them.

Porgy

Aggieboy wrote:

I've just opened up a new file to put some documents into. The documents relate to beaver activity in the vicinity of one of our railway lines.

I have written in thick black ink on the front of the file "beaver file".

It pleased me far more than it should have.

I've had a beaver file on my hard drive for years.

passout

I must rake up the leaves in my front garden today.

deptfordmarmoset

passout wrote:

I must rake up the leaves in my front garden today.

Autumn must have come late to Lancashire last year.

attica

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

passout wrote:

I must rake up the leaves in my front garden today.

Autumn must have come late to Lancashire last year.

Or possibly very early.

Dammit, I've missed the summer...


...again!

mkirby

Burning your finger hurts

Stewie Griffin

mkirby wrote:

Burning your finger hurts

I suggest you repeat the experiment several times before posting your findings on here .

Porgy

mkirby wrote:

Burning your finger hurts

Next time burn someone else's - it doesn't hurt nearly so much.

Aggieboy

I just cannot get used to Softlad's new avatar.

Clever Pun

I just sneezed while on the phone to the Oyster card people

Anonymous

Wind chill was awful today.

Tempestas

Since handing my notice in my work rate has declined considerably

passout

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

passout wrote:

I must rake up the leaves in my front garden today.

Autumn must have come late to Lancashire last year.

The leaves have been there a long time.