Timber/timbre

June 14th, 2012 by admin

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Posted in columns, June 2012 | 4 comments

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4 comments on this post.

  1. JD Hawthorne:

    March 7th, 2013 at 7:43 pm

    I was wondering if the French “tomber” meaning to fall, is the root meaning for yelling “timber” when felling a tree. Quebec was, and is known for its forestry. To yell “falling” makes better sense to me. The English speakers probably heard this as “timber”

  2. What's in a Name? East Falls, Philadelphia: Street by Street - East Falls House:

    June 25th, 2014 at 6:14 am

    […] There appear to be a lot of trees here, but lumberjacks disagree on whether to yell “TIMBER” when chopping one […]

  3. Anonymous:

    October 4th, 2017 at 1:17 am

    Actually, the modern French word is “tomber,” but the Arcadian word is “timber” and the likely source of the warning.

  4. Andy:

    December 17th, 2019 at 5:27 am

    Could it come from the French for fall ie tombe and become adopted in English as timber?

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