esquivalience

by Jon Shea

29 August 2005

n. the willful avoidance of one’s official responsibilities… late 19th cent.: perhaps from French esquiver, “dodge, slink away.”
[Link]

Comments:

  • Michael
    Aug 30, 06:17 AM

    Interesting. I wonder if esquiver is the root of the English schoolchildren’s word “skive,” as in “I’m going to skive off from classes today.” The meanings and the pronunciation seem to link up nicely (although I know better than to assume this makes an etymology, even with the Norman connexion).

  • Jon Shea
    Aug 30, 07:18 AM

    I have no idea what a Norman connexion is.

  • Michael
    Aug 30, 02:36 PM

    On October 14, 1066, William, son of Robert “the Devil” and Duke of Normandy, led three divisions of armed infantry against the Anglo-Saxon king Harold II near Hastings. Their defeat of the English led to an enormous infusion of Latin word stems into the English language, and is largely responsible for the transition between the heavy Germanic sound of old Anglo-Saxon, and the lighter, more fluid tongue of Chaucer and later Shakespeare.

    That Norman connexion.

Comment: