"Word" words?

[Mark Mandel]

On Mon, Apr 28, 2008 at 11:32 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
>  Nice to know.  And for us non-Nufis, "codfish" is another instance of
>  the phenomenon under discussion.  Curiously, though, *"scrodfish" is
>  not--at least I've never heard it, even though scrod is a kind of cod
>  (when it isn't figuring as the imperfect subjunctive of a certain
>  verb in the punch line of a certain joke).

Living in eastern Mass. for 20 years, I learned that "scrod" means
"the fish of the day", whatever kind that happens to be.

OED quoth: "A young cod weighing less than three pounds, esp. one that
is split and fried or boiled. Also used of young forms of other
fishes, esp. the haddock, or a fillet cut from one of these fishes."

M-W pretty much agrees: "a young fish (as a cod or haddock);
especially : one split and boned for cooking"

--
Mark Mandel

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