Pretty sure it’s “sneosan”, not “fneosan” and you’re being tricked by the letterforms. The upper-case Anglo-Saxon “S” looks sort of like an “f” and the lowercase “s” is the same as our modern letter.
Pretty sure “Nothing to sneeze at” is a corruption of “Nothing to sniff at” which makes perfect sense as in nothing to turn your nose up at.
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Sam:
December 13th, 2012 at 3:38 am
Pretty sure it’s “sneosan”, not “fneosan” and you’re being tricked by the letterforms. The upper-case Anglo-Saxon “S” looks sort of like an “f” and the lowercase “s” is the same as our modern letter.
Wade Livingston:
November 11th, 2014 at 3:18 pm
This comment regarding the Odyssey might be relevant:
“Penelope wants the suitors dead; right after she said that Telemachus sneezed
The ancient Greeks believed a sneeze was an omen from the gods since sneezes are uncontrollable; this omen foreshadows the death of the suitors”
http://www.blaine.wednet.edu/bhs/Staff%20pages/Ncoats/web%20Info./Sophomores/Odyssey/daily_notes/17_notes.htm
Anonymous:
June 2nd, 2021 at 4:07 am
Pretty sure “Nothing to sneeze at” is a corruption of “Nothing to sniff at” which makes perfect sense as in nothing to turn your nose up at.