DAILY BRIEFING

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ETIQUETTE
   
Punctilious manners.    
Basically meaning "to stick" or "attach," when this first appeared in    
14th-century French it described a piece of white paper stuck to a    
post to serve as an archery target, and later, to a poster in a barracks    
giving details of billeting arrangements or any update of orders.    
When the term arrived in mid- 18th-century English it was hijacked    
by court and diplomatic circles to describe a small hand-out, or    
ticket, giving information about the pecking order of visiting    
dignitaries and who should bow to whom, and so forth. Thus    
"etiquette" moved from archery to fancy manners, creating "that's the    
ticket!" along the way. PROTOCOL    

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A Roman soldier's helmet was secured by a strapwith a tined fkhg    
that lay against the right cheek, which explains why the modern    
buckle is named from the Latin buccula, "a little cheek." Before steel    
plate and mail, most early armor was made of stiffened leather panels    
(harness) secured by buckles; hence the phrase "buckle down,"    
meaning "to get into action," and the explanation as to why those who went down fighting   
 would "die in harness," as long after steel    
armour had replaced leather, "harness" remained an accepted term and was still   
being used in such a  context until the late 19th century.    
SWASHBUCKLING

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FABIAN TACTICS

               
Constructive prevarication.                
During    the    Second Punic    War    (218-201    BC), the    Roman    
commander and statesman Quintus Fabius Maximus (d. 203 BC)    
was given the job of fighting the Carthaginian general, Hannibal,    
an enemy Fabius thought best worn down rather than confronted    
head on. To the fury of his foe Fabius led the Carthaginians a    
merry dance, stretching Hannibal's supply lines to breaking    
point and constantly maneuvering him into hilly terrain where his    
famous cavalry was useless. Until his strategy proved effective,    
Fabius was derided in the Senate and nicknamed Cunctator, "The    
Delayer," a name he kept as a badge of honor after the vindication    
of his tactics.    
The left-wing Fabian Society (est. 1884) took his name because    
its declared objectives %re to bring about social change by a slow    
process of education and persuasion rather than by revolution.    
   

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BASTARD
    
Illegitimate child or an unpleasant person.    
"Bastard" derives from "bast" or "bat:' alternative names for the kind    
of pack-saddle used in the baggage-trains that followed an army on    
the move. This saddle opened out into a crude bed for nights on the    
trail. A child supposedly conceived on a "bast," and thus unlikely to    
be the issue of a sanctified union, was called a biitard in French and    
in English a "bastard."    
Whilst "bastard" is now exclusively offensive -synonyms include    
the grandiose "love-child" -it was not thus in military and court    
circles of old, where the bastards of nobles rose quickly through the    
ranks. The Norman warlord, William the Conqueror (1027-87) was    
respectfully known as "Le Grand Bitard de Normandie," this neatly    
summing up what was thought of him in the modern sense in    
England, where the surname of Bastard would also be claimed with    
pride. Another noble, Robert the Bastard, also arrived at the Norman    
invasion and established the House of Bastard at Kitley in Devon.    
Since then, quite a few Bastards have sat in the House of Commons,    
the most recent being John Pollexfen Bastard (1756-1816) and    
Edmund Bastard, who took up the seat when John died. The British    
Army has also enjofed its share of high-ranking Bastards, including    
Colonel Reginald Bastard DSO &Bar (1880-1960), Lieutenant of the    
County of Devon, who was succeeded in this office by his son, the    
now deceased Captain Rodney Bastard.    

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MAYONNAISE

    
Dressing for salad.    
After a long siege in 1756,Frehch forces under the Duc de Richelieu    
ousted the British from Port Mahon on the Spanish island of    
Minorca. The siege had been protracted and the blockade so    
successful that the Duc's chef was hard pressed to come up with a    
victory banquet, but he did the best he could and dressed the side    
salad with a new sauce, first called "Mahonaise" after the port.    

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BLESS
   
Consecrate or sanction.    
The original meaning of the term can be seen in the Old English    
bletsian (Middle English blessen), "to injure or make bleed," which is    
stiU reflected in the modern French verb blesser, "to injure." In earlier    
times to "bless" someone was to hack them to pieces on the battlefield.    
The shift in meaning arose from pre-battle augury and sacrifice to    
attempt to determine the outcome of the forthcoming conflict.    
Dark Age Britain (5th-11th centuries) was by no means a    
Christian enclave, pagan sacrifice persisting to the end of that period    
and likely beyond. Before any battle, early Dark Age commanders    
would stretch out their arms to mark off a section of the sky to be    
read for omens and portents (the auspices), usually involving the    
significance of any bird that flew through the section. Nezrt, the    
commander would cut the throat of some unfortunate animal and    
daub the blood on the foreheads of his juniors to bless them in their    
battle-fortunes. Finally, he would dip his grouped finger-tips in the    
blood and kiss them. This is still done today to indicate excellence,    
but without the blood. BLIZZARD    

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BENNIES    


Falkland Islanders.    
After the British Army secured the Fakland Islands in the Falklands    
War of 1982, the honeymoon with the locals was short-lived. The    
troops nicknamed their reluctant hosts "Bennies" after the simple-    
minded character Benny in the British soap opera Crossroads.When    
the community relations officers opined that this was hardly    
conducive to harmony, the troops used "Bubs," "bloody ungrateful    
bastards," instead. A flurry of memos followed, demanding that this    
term also be abandoned, so the squaddies altered position to "Stills,"    
"still bloody ungrateful bastards."    
Not to be outdone, the islanders called the troops "Whennies," as    
most of the old soldiers' tales to which they were treated began with    
When I was in Belize ..." or some other far-flung locale.    

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        FLAK

      
   Barrage of criticism.    
   An abbreviation of the German Fliegerabwehkanone, "anti-aircraft    
   gun," this term enjoyed limited metaphorical use by World War I    
   British pilots, but it was World War 11British and American pilots    
   speaking of "catching flak" after a dressing-down which brought the    
   term into general use on both sides of the Atlantic.    
   To afford aircrew some protection from ground fire, the British    
   company Wilkinson Sword produced jackets made of Du Pont's    
'    ballistic nylon, the forerunner of their more successful Kevlar, with    
   metal inserts. Unfortunately these were too bulky for the confines of    
   World War I1British bbmbers, so the stock was offered to American    
   aircrew whose planes were roomier. Today, "flak jacket" is used of a    
   bulletproof vest.    

[urleft]

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        FLAK

      
   Barrage of criticism.    
   An abbreviation of the German Fliegerabwehkanone, "anti-aircraft    
   gun," this term enjoyed limited metaphorical use by World War I    
   British pilots, but it was World War 11British and American pilots    
   speaking of "catching flak" after a dressing-down which brought the    
   term into general use on both sides of the Atlantic.    
   To afford aircrew some protection from ground fire, the British    
   company Wilkinson Sword produced jackets made of Du Pont's    
'    ballistic nylon, the forerunner of their more successful Kevlar, with    
   metal inserts. Unfortunately these were too bulky for the confines of    
   World War I1British bbmbers, so the stock was offered to American    
   aircrew whose planes were roomier. Today, "flak jacket" is used of a    
   bulletproof vest.    

think I need one of them for when I do postings. 

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BAG AND BAGGAGE
   
Everything.    
Not quite the tautology it appears for, since the 15th century, this    
has been a recognized British Army command calling for all to    
quit a camp or barracks, never to return. If only leaving for a short    
time then a single bag would suffice, but when the regiment moved    
out in its entirety, it was a case of personal bags plus all equipment    
and supplies being loaded onto a baggage train. LOCK, STOCK    
AND BARREL    

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BALACLAVA
   
Woolen helmet.    
The original balaclava covered not only the head but also the    
shoulders and was general issue to British troops in the Crimean War    
(1853-56), where the winters were extremely cold. Although the    
garments were a thoughtful gesture, knitted in the main by well-    
intentioned women back home, they were no match for the Crimean    
cold, so the troops nicknamed them after the location of the    
disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade. Officers tried to discourage    
the usage but the name stuck.    

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Neighbour

How Did the Word “Neighbour” Originate and What Does Neighbour Mean In Old English?


In the early days of our language, in the times that we call Old English, the word “neighbour” was a compound word, made up of the two elements, neah and gebur.

These separately have descended to us as “nigh” and “boor,” and that is exactly what neighbour originally meant, a nearby rustic or peasant, a husbandman dwelling nearby.

From the origin it would appear, therefore, that the term applies only to countryfolk and to small villages, but it was early taken into the towns and cities and applied to anyone who lived nearby.

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THE BALLOON WENT UP
    
Indication of imminent trouble    
Before a World War I infantry attack, artillery would soften up    
the target area and, prior to their opening fire, observation balloons    
were winched aloft to correct aim. Naturally, this alerted those in the    
trenches that it would not be long before someone was ordered over the    
top, and so "the balloon went up came to mean "imminent trouble."    

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PITCHER

The word "pitcher" comes from the 13th century Middle English word picher, which means earthen jug. The word picher is linked to the old French word pichier which is the altered version of the word bichier, meaning drinking cup.The pitcher’s origin goes as far back to the Medieval Latin word bicarium from the Greek word bikos, which meant earthen vessel. Compare with Dutch beker, German Becher and English beaker.

ALSO

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is assigned the number 1. Traditionally, the pitcher also bats. Starting in 1973 with the American League and spreading to further leagues throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the hitting duties of the pitcher have generally been given over to the position of designated hitter, a cause of some controversy. The National League in Major League Baseball and the Japanese Central League are among the remaining leagues that have not adopted the designated hitter position.

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BLIMP
   
Observation balloon; pompous old man.    
"The term blimp originated in the last war, when British lighter-    
than-air-aircraft were divided into Type A-Rigid and Type B-Limp    
i.e. without rigid internal framework" (War Illustrated, December    
29, 1939).    
The second meaning emerged in the interwar period, when David    
Low (1891-1963) ran his Colonel Blimp cartoon in the London    
Evening Standard newspaper to national acclaim. Obviously he took    
the name from the military balloon because of its suggestion of    
inflation without any substance. In 1943,Michael Powell and Emeric    
Pressburger, co-producers of the Archers Film Company, produced    
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, a film chronicling the career of    
an ineffectual colonel from the Boer War to the opening of World    
War 11. The film was not released until 1945 because Churchill used    
-the Defense of the Realm Act (DORA) to block its release as being    
detrimental to wartime morale. DUD