"Amadama" bread (1909)

Douglas G. Wilson douglas at NB.NET
Wed Nov 16 02:03:55 UTC 2005


The folk-etymology from "Anna" seems very doubtful, especially given that
the earlier examples generally seem to have "m" as the first consonant.

 From ProQuest:

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_Boston Daily_, 25 March 1909: p. 12:

<<AMADAMA BREAD. / [recipe follows]>>

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Etymology of "amadama"? Don't know. Some might find an Irish etymology
appealing. "Amadan" = "omadhaun" = "fool", but it is/was also a name of
some mythological figures. In 1883 there was a play by this name, and in
1900 there appeared in some US newspapers a Celtic fairy tale called "The
Amadan of the Dough", about the heroic feats of an amadan who had been
raised on (more or less) bread and water: this story is available on the Web.

-- Doug Wilson



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