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Who's Scott? by Jan Haber Question: Who is the Scot in scot-free? --BD, South Nyack Answer: According to word researchers William & Mary Morris, scot-free has nothing to do with Scotland, Scottish people or anyone by the name of Scott. "In Shakespeare's day & before, a scot (or sceot, as it was originally spelled) was a municipal tax, one paid to the local bailiff or sheriff. Thus the present day meaning of 'without payment of a just penalty' can be traced directly back to the scot-free varlets of Elizabethan England who managed successfully to dodge paying their taxes." Long history of hangnails Question: Where does the word hangnail come from? --BPT, Valley Cottage Answer: Hangnails, those painful little rips in the skin on your finger near the nail, have evidently been annoying humans for millennia. According to The American Heritage Dictionary (4th Ed.), the word derives from the Old English word angnægl (ang=painful + nægl=peg, or nail). Old English was spoken between 600 and 1100AD. In Middle English times (1100--1500), angnail had come to mean the kind of painful corn that sometimes afflicts the human toe. The alteration of angnail to hangnail may have been influenced by the unrelated word, hang. OK--that takes care of the history of the word, now how you deal with the painful reality? According to medical experts, a hangnail should be removed with a clean nail clipper that was rinsed with alcohol to prevent the spread of bacteria. By trimming the far end of a hangnail promptly, you prevent further accidental damage and remove any temptation to pull or chew on the dead skin. Pull on a hangnail and you're likely to tear away some more live skin and invite infection. Comments / questions for The Word Hound can be e-mailed to info@nyackvillager.com
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