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Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:17 pm
Post subject: the busboy |
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Hello every one,
When we go to a restaurant, we see a person who carries plates. We call
them "busboy". Where does this word "busboy" come from?
In kyu |
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John Dean
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 5:15 pm
Post subject: Re: the busboy |
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stylish.inkyu@gmail.com wrote:
| Quote: | Hello every one,
When we go to a restaurant, we see a person who carries plates. We
call them "busboy". Where does this word "busboy" come from?
|
From Latin "omnibus" "for all". In this sense used for a lad who clears
the tables and, like the transport, omnibus is abbreviated to bus.
--
John Dean
Oxford |
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Donna Richoux
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 5:43 pm
Post subject: Re: the busboy |
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<stylish.inkyu@gmail.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Hello every one,
When we go to a restaurant, we see a person who carries plates. We call
them "busboy". Where does this word "busboy" come from?
|
It's nice to see lots of questions, but I wonder whether some teacher
gave the assignment for everyone in the class to post a question to
a.u.e today.
If that is happening, *please* read "Intro A: Welcome and Guidelines."
http://www.alt-usage-english.org/intro_a.shtml
particularly the part about not asking questions that could be answered
by a dictionary. Online dictionaries like m-w.com give histories of
words, including "busboy".
--
Best wishes -- Donna Richoux |
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the Omrud
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 5:46 pm
Post subject: Re: the busboy |
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John Dean spake thusly:
| Quote: | stylish.inkyu@gmail.com wrote:
Hello every one,
When we go to a restaurant, we see a person who carries plates. We
call them "busboy". Where does this word "busboy" come from?
From Latin "omnibus" "for all". In this sense used for a lad who clears
the tables and, like the transport, omnibus is abbreviated to bus.
|
I reckon the derivation of the US "bus boy" is more closely related
to the means of transport than to the original Latin word. A bus boy
"buses" or carries items from tables back into the kitchen. "To
bus" is used in US English as an specialised meaning of "to
transport".
--
David
=====
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Jim Lawton
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 5:52 pm
Post subject: Re: the busboy |
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On Thu, 6 Oct 2005 13:43:17 +0200, trio@euronet.nl (Donna Richoux) wrote:
| Quote: | stylish.inkyu@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello every one,
When we go to a restaurant, we see a person who carries plates. We call
them "busboy". Where does this word "busboy" come from?
It's nice to see lots of questions, but I wonder whether some teacher
gave the assignment for everyone in the class to post a question to
a.u.e today.
And all these questions have gmail addresses ... |
--
Jim
the polymoth |
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Donna Richoux
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 6:01 pm
Post subject: Re: the busboy |
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Jim Lawton <usenet1@jimlawton.TAKEOUTinfo> wrote:
| Quote: | On Thu, 6 Oct 2005 13:43:17 +0200, trio@euronet.nl (Donna Richoux) wrote:
stylish.inkyu@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello every one,
When we go to a restaurant, we see a person who carries plates. We call
them "busboy". Where does this word "busboy" come from?
It's nice to see lots of questions, but I wonder whether some teacher
gave the assignment for everyone in the class to post a question to
a.u.e today.
And all these questions have gmail addresses ...
|
Well, they seem genuine enough. We just need to divide up the work. I've
answered a few, and the American crew should be coming on line soon. we
can leave some for them to do.
--
Best -- Donna Richoux |
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Tony Cooper
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 7:07 pm
Post subject: Re: the busboy |
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On Thu, 6 Oct 2005 14:01:31 +0200, trio@euronet.nl (Donna Richoux)
wrote:
| Quote: | Jim Lawton <usenet1@jimlawton.TAKEOUTinfo> wrote:
On Thu, 6 Oct 2005 13:43:17 +0200, trio@euronet.nl (Donna Richoux) wrote:
stylish.inkyu@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello every one,
When we go to a restaurant, we see a person who carries plates. We call
them "busboy". Where does this word "busboy" come from?
It's nice to see lots of questions, but I wonder whether some teacher
gave the assignment for everyone in the class to post a question to
a.u.e today.
And all these questions have gmail addresses ...
Well, they seem genuine enough. We just need to divide up the work. I've
answered a few, and the American crew should be coming on line soon. we
can leave some for them to do.
|
Cooper reporting, Sah! The Omrud mentioned carrying plates and other
items back to the kitchen, but that's the result of "bussing" the
table. The busboy clears the table after the diners have left the
table.
Should it be brought up that if you add an "s" to bus that it makes it
more romantic?
--
Making an effort to include a condemnable term in every posting.
Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL |
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Will
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 7:28 pm
Post subject: Re: the busboy |
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Tony Cooper wrote:
[...]
| Quote: | Should it be brought up that if you add an "s" to bus that it makes it
more romantic?
|
Would you be referring to the sense of "bussing" meaning kissing (if
indeed it does mean kissing)? I was going to ask about that, but I
didn't want to offend Donna, and I don't have a gmail address.
I also want to know why Leftpondians call a fringe of hair "bangs".
When I first became aware of this usage, in relation to hair rather
than explosions or exclamation marks (probably around the time I read
"A for Alibi" by Sue Grafton), I assumed that it meant those
fantastically depending curls beloved of the Pre-Raphaelites. It came
as a real shock when I realised it was the squitty bit hiding the brow.
Will. |
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the Omrud
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 7:38 pm
Post subject: Re: the busboy |
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Will spake thusly:
| Quote: |
Tony Cooper wrote:
[...]
Should it be brought up that if you add an "s" to bus that it makes it
more romantic?
Would you be referring to the sense of "bussing" meaning kissing (if
indeed it does mean kissing)? I was going to ask about that, but I
didn't want to offend Donna, and I don't have a gmail address.
|
I never heard that. Is it related to the French/Latin/Italian words
for kiss, e.g. baiser? We must remind readers that although the noun
is unexceptionable, the verb is considerablyy cruder: "un baiser" - a
kiss; "baisez-moi" - fuck me.
| Quote: | I also want to know why Leftpondians call a fringe of hair "bangs".
When I first became aware of this usage, in relation to hair rather
than explosions or exclamation marks (probably around the time I read
"A for Alibi" by Sue Grafton), I assumed that it meant those
fantastically depending curls beloved of the Pre-Raphaelites. It came
as a real shock when I realised it was the squitty bit hiding the brow.
|
That's just one of those incomprehensible differences.
Nice use of "depending" though.
--
David
=====
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John Dean
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 7:49 pm
Post subject: Re: the busboy |
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the Omrud wrote:
| Quote: | John Dean spake thusly:
stylish.inkyu@gmail.com wrote:
Hello every one,
When we go to a restaurant, we see a person who carries plates. We
call them "busboy". Where does this word "busboy" come from?
From Latin "omnibus" "for all". In this sense used for a lad who
clears the tables and, like the transport, omnibus is abbreviated to
bus.
I reckon the derivation of the US "bus boy" is more closely related
to the means of transport than to the original Latin word. A bus boy
"buses" or carries items from tables back into the kitchen. "To
bus" is used in US English as an specialised meaning of "to
transport".
|
From OED:
omnibus:
" 4. A man or boy who assists a waiter at an hotel, restaurant, etc.
1888 Star 11 Aug. 4/5 To pay to what is known in a restaurant as an
'omnibus', i.e. a lad that clears the tables. 1897 Daily News 19 June
2/6 Omnibuses+apprentices- who wait on the waiters. "
"bus, v.2 Add: [2.] b. [Back-formation from busboy s.v. bus n.2 3.] To
clear (a table) of dirty dishes, etc., as in a restaurant or cafeteria;
also, to carry or remove (dishes) from the table. N. Amer.
1952 R. V. Williams Hard Way iii. 17 Laura and the guy with her+sat a
table across from us under a big sign that said Bus your own trays.
1958 Fast Food Jan. 40/3 Customers bus their own dishes to a window of
the dishwashing room. 1979 Washington Post 4 Feb. g2/3 John, 12, helped
out washing dishes; and Jimmy, 16, bussed tables. 1980 News & Observer
(Raleigh, N. Carolina) 28 Oct. 4/4 Your message is clear: Blacks who
agree with you may dine at your table; all others will please bus the
dishes. 1988 New Yorker 1 Aug. 50/1 Chad Laughner, Chip's
twelve-year-old son, buses tables at Castleton."
--
John Dean
Oxford |
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Donna Richoux
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 7:55 pm
Post subject: Re: the busboy |
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Will <billrigby@hotmail.com> wrote:
| Quote: |
Would you be referring to the sense of "bussing" meaning kissing (if
indeed it does mean kissing)? I was going to ask about that, but I
didn't want to offend Donna, and I don't have a gmail address.
|
Americans know that meaning only from Shakespeare, vaguely. Oh, tell
Tony that the verb as in "to bus tables" came after "busboy."
| Quote: |
I also want to know why Leftpondians call a fringe of hair "bangs".
When I first became aware of this usage, in relation to hair rather
than explosions or exclamation marks (probably around the time I read
"A for Alibi" by Sue Grafton), I assumed that it meant those
fantastically depending curls beloved of the Pre-Raphaelites. It came
as a real shock when I realised it was the squitty bit hiding the brow.
|
This seems to be Archives Day. I wrote about "bang" in 2000:
| Quote: | Based on Thorndike-Barnhart Dictionary:]
[First there was the adverb bang, meaning to do something suddenly,
directly, or squarely. Thus, "to cut it bang off" would mean to cut
squarely off. This was applied to docking horses tails, and it was
applied to human haircuts. It probably referred to the horses first,
but whether it was applied to people in imitation of the horses, or
merely from the basic meaning, is unclear.
|
--
Best -- Donna Richoux |
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the Omrud
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 7:58 pm
Post subject: Re: the busboy |
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John Dean spake thusly:
| Quote: | the Omrud wrote:
John Dean spake thusly:
stylish.inkyu@gmail.com wrote:
Hello every one,
When we go to a restaurant, we see a person who carries plates. We
call them "busboy". Where does this word "busboy" come from?
From Latin "omnibus" "for all". In this sense used for a lad who
clears the tables and, like the transport, omnibus is abbreviated to
bus.
I reckon the derivation of the US "bus boy" is more closely related
to the means of transport than to the original Latin word. A bus boy
"buses" or carries items from tables back into the kitchen. "To
bus" is used in US English as an specialised meaning of "to
transport".
From OED:
omnibus:
" 4. A man or boy who assists a waiter at an hotel, restaurant, etc.
1888 Star 11 Aug. 4/5 To pay to what is known in a restaurant as an
'omnibus', i.e. a lad that clears the tables. 1897 Daily News 19 June
2/6 Omnibuses+apprentices- who wait on the waiters. "
|
I see. But I don't see why. Why is a clearing lad named an omnibus?
Is he by, with or for everybody?
--
David
=====
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Will
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 8:09 pm
Post subject: Re: the busboy |
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Donna Richoux wrote:
| Quote: | Will <billrigby@hotmail.com> wrote:
[...]
I also want to know why Leftpondians call a fringe of hair "bangs".
When I first became aware of this usage, in relation to hair rather
than explosions or exclamation marks (probably around the time I read
"A for Alibi" by Sue Grafton), I assumed that it meant those
fantastically depending curls beloved of the Pre-Raphaelites. It came
as a real shock when I realised it was the squitty bit hiding the brow.
This seems to be Archives Day. I wrote about "bang" in 2000:
Based on Thorndike-Barnhart Dictionary:]
[First there was the adverb bang, meaning to do something suddenly,
directly, or squarely. Thus, "to cut it bang off" would mean to cut
squarely off. This was applied to docking horses tails, and it was
applied to human haircuts. It probably referred to the horses first,
but whether it was applied to people in imitation of the horses, or
merely from the basic meaning, is unclear.
|
Marvellous - ta! I'm pretty sure the noun "bangs" never crossed the
pond is because we don't have the expression "cut it bang off", or at
least I've never heard it.
Will. |
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R H Draney
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 8:26 pm
Post subject: Re: the busboy |
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Will filted:
| Quote: |
I also want to know why Leftpondians call a fringe of hair "bangs".
When I first became aware of this usage, in relation to hair rather
than explosions or exclamation marks (probably around the time I read
"A for Alibi" by Sue Grafton), I assumed that it meant those
fantastically depending curls beloved of the Pre-Raphaelites. It came
as a real shock when I realised it was the squitty bit hiding the brow.
|
Hang on, it gets worse....
If you don't have the feature, and then decide to add it, you don't *"grow
bangs"...you "cut bangs"...even if your hair has to get longer to do it, it's
still called "cutting"....
A "fringe" over here would suggest one of those suede vests with all the little
strips hanging from it....r |
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Tony Cooper
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 8:28 pm
Post subject: Re: the busboy |
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On Thu, 06 Oct 2005 13:38:30 GMT, the Omrud <usenet.omrud@gmail.com>
wrote:
| Quote: | Will spake thusly:
Tony Cooper wrote:
[...]
Should it be brought up that if you add an "s" to bus that it makes it
more romantic?
Would you be referring to the sense of "bussing" meaning kissing (if
indeed it does mean kissing)? I was going to ask about that, but I
didn't want to offend Donna, and I don't have a gmail address.
|
It's right there in the dictionary. The word "buss", meaning kiss, is
from the Middle English "bassen".
| Quote: | I never heard that. Is it related to the French/Latin/Italian words
for kiss, e.g. baiser? We must remind readers that although the noun
is unexceptionable, the verb is considerablyy cruder: "un baiser" - a
kiss; "baisez-moi" - fuck me.
I also want to know why Leftpondians call a fringe of hair "bangs".
When I first became aware of this usage, in relation to hair rather
than explosions or exclamation marks (probably around the time I read
"A for Alibi" by Sue Grafton), I assumed that it meant those
fantastically depending curls beloved of the Pre-Raphaelites. It came
as a real shock when I realised it was the squitty bit hiding the brow.
|
I can't recall what an English hairdresser would call what we call
"bangs". I wouldn't call it a fringe since I think of a fringe of
hair as being what a near-bald man has around the side of his head.
--
Making an effort to include a condemnable term in every posting.
Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL |
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