Sherpt

[Beverly Flanigan]

At 09:38 AM 2/2/01 -0800, you wrote:
>another guess:
>
>i don't know how recently sherpa (literally, a member of a tibetan people
>noted for their mountaineering skills; figuratively, any third-world
>bearer toting supplies for first world explorers, colonists or
>tourists) came into use in english.  i think it's in _the man who would be
>king_ (1888?).  my instinct is that it is a verb for what sherpas
>do: bear, carry.  she is a mere skeleton because her flesh has been borne
>away, carried off.
>
>sylvia swift
>madonna at socrates.berkeley.edu

The Scots English suggestion (and E. Gregory's American example) makes a
lot more sense, given the origins of Southern and South Midland
settlement.  The Tibetan link would be highly unlikely, except maybe for
readers of mountaineering books--and in the mid-19th century??

_____________________________________________
Beverly Olson Flanigan         Department of Linguistics
Ohio University                     Athens, OH  45701
Ph.: (740) 593-4568              Fax: (740) 593-2967
http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/linguistics/dept/flanigan.htm