It’s a common misconception for people reading older English literature to be perplexed by “divers”, as it often appears in phrases like “a coat of divers colour”.
Modern readers for some reason seem inclined to assume this means the coat was red with a white stripe, but I suspect that predisposition is of “of nautical origins” and can be safely ignored.
I randomly realized the prevalence of “verse” in the English language and fortuitously discovered this page of etymological porn while seeking its meaning. Thank you!
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Bevan:
February 27th, 2013 at 1:13 am
It’s a common misconception for people reading older English literature to be perplexed by “divers”, as it often appears in phrases like “a coat of divers colour”.
Modern readers for some reason seem inclined to assume this means the coat was red with a white stripe, but I suspect that predisposition is of “of nautical origins” and can be safely ignored.
GS test demo:
April 1st, 2013 at 2:41 am
Diversity / University « The Word Detective
Ed:
February 14th, 2017 at 2:55 pm
I randomly realized the prevalence of “verse” in the English language and fortuitously discovered this page of etymological porn while seeking its meaning. Thank you!